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JOHN    CALVIN 


PRESBYTERIANS 


A  POPULAR   NARRATIVE   OF    THEIR   ORIGIN,   PROGRESS, 
DOCTRINES,  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS 


BY 

REV.  GEO.  P.  HAYS,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


With  Special  Chapters  by  Rev.  W.  J.  Reid,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  A.  G.  Wal- 
lace, D.  D.,  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America; 
Rev.  J.  M.  Howard,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  J.  M.  Hubbert,  D.  D.,  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  ;  Rev.  Moses  D. 

HOGE,   D.   D.,   OF  THE    PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE 

United  States,  and  Rev.  W.   H.  Roberts, 

D.  D..  LL.  D.,  American  Secretary, 

Presbyterian  Alliance 


INTRODUCTIONS    BY 

REV.  JOHN  HALL,  D.  D„  LL.  D., 

AND 

REV.   WILLIAM   E.   MOORE,   D.   D.,   LL.   D. 


NEW  YORK 

J.  A.   HILL  &  CO.,   Publishers 
1892 


Copyright,  1892, 

BY 

J.    A.    HILL   &   COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


THE    MERSHON    COMPANY    PRESS, 
RAHWAY,   N.  J. 


PREFACE. 


This  book  is  for  church  members,  officers,  and  busy  pastors,  rather 
than  for  theological  professors,  or  private  antiquarians.  The  object 
sought  is  to  furnish  intelligent  people  with  a  comparatively  brief 
outline  of  the  work,  achievements,  and  undertakings  of  the  denomi- 
nation. Such  a  book  is  sought  for  by  parents,  Sabbath  school  teach- 
ers, Bible  classes,  and  bright,  brainy  young  Presbyterians  in  their 
Endeavor  Societies,  Reading  Circles,  and  Mutual  Information 
Associations.  It  is  not  supposed  that  this  book,  in  its  brevity,  will 
satisfy  all  of  these  inquiring  minds,  but  a  great  end  will  be  gained  if 
the  appetite  is  sharpened  for  increased  familiarity  with  the  work  of 
their  own  branch  of  Evangelical  Christendom. 

Undoubtedly  there  will  be  much  criticism  on  account  of  the  omis- 
sions ;  but  a  page  of  printed  matter  will  only  hold  the  full  of  it.  It 
would  have  been  easier  to  have  written  a  book  of  fifteen  hundred 
pages  than  one  of  five  hundred.  There  will  be  differences  of  opinion 
as  to  which  are  the  more  deserving  of  insertion,  some  things  left  out, 
or  some  things  put  in.  But  the  list  given  under  the  head  of  "works 
consulted  "  is  not  an  expensive  one,  and  the  dissatisfied  are  advised 
to  prosecute  their  studies  by  the  perusal  of  these  authorities.  The 
plan  of  separate  chapters  on  "  Missions  "  and  "  Education,"  in  addi- 
tion to  the  history,  compelled  some  repetition.  The  Church  has 
always  been  educating  and  missionating,  and  the  repetition  is  in  the 
work  and  not  merely  in  the  way  of  telling  it. 

The  author  intended  to  be  fair  to  all  parties.  On  all  controverted 
questions  he  undoubtedly  holds  quite  definite  opinions  ;  but  if  he 
has  failed  to  state  fairly  the  views  of  others,  it  was  due  to  inability 

iii 


iv  PREFACE. 

and  not  to  want  of  purpose.  A  history  might  be  made  the  vehicle 
of  an  argument,  and  anyone  will  more  or  less  write  himself  into  his 
own  composition.  It  was  here  meant  to  be  just.  It  was  in  this  spirit 
that  the  request  was  presented  to  the  representatives  of  other  de- 
nominations, that  they  should  prepare  the  special  sketch  of  their  own 
Church  for  a  chapter  in  this  book.  In  writing  it,  they  were  not 
asked  to  conciliate  anybody  ;  but  with  frankness  to  give  the  account 
of  their  Church,  as  to  its  doctrines  and  polity,  as  it  is  viewed  by  their 
own  people.  Drs.  Reid  and  Hubbert  desire  to  state  that  the  credit 
of  the  faithfulness  of  the  chapters  with  which  their  names  are  iden- 
tified is  due  to  Drs.  Wallace  and  Howard.  The  latter  did  the 
laborious  part  of  the  work,  but  in  each  case  the  co-laborers  revised 
and  approved  the  final  form  of  the  chapter. 

No  pretense  is  made  of  any  particular  originality.  Originality  as 
to  facts  may  be  useful  for  a  reporter  in  padding  out  a  newspaper,  but 
it  is  not  a  desirable  talent  in  a  historian.  In  replying  to  the  charge 
that  Thomas  Jefferson  exhibited  no  originality  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  his  biographer  (Mr.  Randall)  justly  says,  "  He,  who 
should  at  this  age  of  the  world  utter  nothing  (on  such  subjects)  but 
that  which  is  purely  original,  would  keep  pretty  nearly  silent,  and  if 
he  did  speak  would  probably  utter  very  little  to  the  purpose." 

The  author  is  bound  to  say  that  the  preparation  of  this  volume 
has  deepened  his  love  for  his  denomination,  has  enlarged  his  confi- 
dence in  its  compact  structure,  has  strengthened  his  faith  in  its 
responsible  and  world-wide  work,  and  has  confirmed  the  calmness 
of  his  trust  in  the  Redeemer's  direction  of  the  mission  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

To  the  great  head  of  Christ's  people,  and  to  the   people  who  live 

through   Him  and  work  for  Him,  and  all  inquirers  who  ask  about 

Christ's    coming    Kingdom,    this     account    of  "Presbyterians  "is 

humbly  commended 

By  the  Author. 


INTRODUCTION 

By  the  Rev.  JOHN  HALL,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

The  educated  people  of  the  United  States  have  not 
ignored  the  records  of  the  past,  but  the  bulk  of  the  pop- 
ulation has  been  so  busy  in  making  the  materials  of  his- 
tory that  comparatively  little  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  developments  of  things  in  bygone  ages.  "  Anti- 
quity," as  many  would  say,  "  is  no  doubt  interesting  to 
people  who  have  little  to  do  ;  but  we  are  nineteenth 
century  workers  ;  we  are  very  busy,  and  we  are  not 
thinking  much  of  what  our  forefathers  did  in  their  time, 
but  of  what  we  have  to  do  in  ours."  We  are  in  danger 
of  forgetting  that  valuable  help  may  be  gained  in  the 
study  of  present  problems  from  the  experience  of  the 
foregoing  generation. 

The  name,  the  opinions,  and  the  influence  of  John 
Calvin  are  before  the  thoughtful  public  at  the  present 
time,  and  Presbyterians  have  good  reason  to  be  inter- 
ested in  the  estimates  formed  of  that  remarkable  man. 
Many  of  our  readers  will  remember  the  deliberate  esti- 
mate of  our  historian,  Bancroft,  of  the  Geneva  clergy- 
man. The  eighth  chapter  of  his  history  of  the  United 
States  has  his  first  topic  in  the  table  of  contents, 
"  Influence  of  Calvin,"  whom  he  describes  (p.  266)  as  a 
"  young  French  refugee,  skilled  alike  in  theology  and 
civil  law.  in  the  duties  of  magistrates  and  the  dialectics 


Vl  INTRODUCTION. 

of  religious  controversy,  entering  the  Republic  of  Ge- 
neva, and  conforming  its  ecclesiastical  discipline  to  the 
principles  of  republican  simplicity,"  "who  established  a 
party,  of  which  Englishmen  became  members,  and  New 
England  the  asylum."  What  New  Englanders  were 
to  our  nation,  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat.  But  surely 
every  intelligent  American  must  be  interested  in  look- 
ing at  the  principles,  plans,  and  practical  operations  of 
the  body,  which  honors  the  name,  and  professes  to 
work  out  the  convictions  of  the   Reformer  of  Geneva. 

It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  the  New  Englanders  did 
not,  when  they  settled  in  America,  reproduce  the  Church 
organization  shaped  by  the  man  whom  Presbyterians 
so  highly  honor.  It  would  not  be  difficult,  perhaps,  to 
explain  this  circumstance,  especially  if  we  bear  in  mind 
two  things  :  the  laws  of  action  and  reaction,  and  the 
light  in  which  Old  England  Puritans  had  been  forced 
to  look  at  great  church  organizations.  How  natural  it 
was  for  them  to  turn  from  anything  that  appeared  to 
be  set  up  over  the  people,  and  how  natural  to  be  per- 
suaded that  the  body  of  worshipers  in  a  given  local- 
ity, duly  associated  together,  should  be  independent  of 
all  outside  authority!  Indeed,  the  word  "Independ- 
ent" is  that  which  describes  the  children  of  the  Puritans 
of  Old  England — a  noble  body  of  earnest  and  patriotic 
Christians. 

But  while  the  New  England  settlers  did  not  adopt 
all  Calvin's  church  methods,  it  is  undeniable  that  in  re- 
ligious convictions  John  Knox  and  John  Calvin,  the 
Puritans  and  the  Presbyterians,  were  substantially  an 
unit.     The  same  set  of  authors   interested  both.     The 


INTRODUCTION.  Vli 

reverence  of  the  Bible,  the  regard  for  the  Sabbath,  the 
solemnity  of  confessing  Christ  at  his  table,  the  fear  of 
"  forms  of  godliness  "  which  they  regarded  as  weakening 
the  "power"  of  it,  and  the  resolute  resistance  of  any 
substitute  for  the  Church's  Divine  Head,  the  King  that 
had  been  set  upon  the  Holy  Hill  of  Zion — these  were 
vital  elements  of  the  life  of  both  sets,  or  if  you  will, 
denominations,  of  Christians.  And  that  these  common 
elements  still  survive  in  their  places  is  made  obvious  by 
the  ease  with  which  Presbyterians  and  Congregational- 
ists  co-operate,  and  the  frequency  with  which  pastors 
pass  from  the  pulpits  of  the  one  to  those  of  the  other. 
After  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  and  the  overthrow  of 
the  power  of  King  James,  many  Scotch  people  moved 
over  into  Ulster,  the  northern  province  of  Ireland. 
They  did  not  become  proprietors,  but  only  tenants  of 
the  soil.  The  common  way  was  to  "  lease  "  a  farm,  for 
say  thirty-one  years,  at  a  fixed  annual  rent.  The  soil 
had  been  little  cultivated.  Fences  had  to  be  set  up  ; 
houses  had  to  be  built ;  rocks  and  trees  had  to  be  re- 
moved in  order  that  crops  might  be  raised.  In  fact, 
Scotchmen  had  to  do  in  Ulster  what  had  to  be  done  in 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  All  this  the  tenants 
did.  On  the  expiration  of  the  leases  (dating  from  1689 
and  1690)  about  1 720,  and  onward,  the  landlords  claimed 
much  higher  rent  than  before.  "  Why,  gentlemen," 
said  the  Scotchmen,  though  not  perhaps  in  this  form  ; 
"  we  got  the  land  when  it  was  worth  little.  We  made 
it  what  it  is  ;  and  now  you  treble  our  rent  because  of 
our  own  improvements!"  The  landlords  held  their 
ground,  and  the  Scotchmen  were   not  of  the  yielding 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

sort.  They  had  learned  something  about  America ; 
many  of  their  kindred  had  gone  to  it.  They  banded 
together  and  found  sea  vessels  of  the  Mayflower  type. 
New  York  was  not  a  harbor  of  any  account  at  that 
time.  They  landed  at  the  James  River  and  followed 
the  opening  of  Providence  into  Maryland,  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  Pennsylvania  ;  a  section,  indeed,  went  to 
New  England,  and  reproduced  Londonderry  with  the 
Presbyterian  name  and  organization.  It  is  not  at  all 
unlikely  that  the  experiences  of  these  people  broke 
down  their  regard  for  monarchical  institutions  and  a 
"  landed  gentry,"  and  prepared  them  for  a  constitution 
formed  and  upheld  by  the  people.  As  is  known  to  many, 
this  element  in  the  population  of  the  United  States  and 
these  facts  of  history  have  been  recalled  to  the  people 
in  the  last  few  years  by  successive  meetings  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  Congress — an  organization  neither  political 
nor  denominational,  but  which  aims  at  emphasizing  to 
them  and  to  coming  generations  the  principles  that 
ruled,  and  the  characteristics  that  marked,  about  one- 
third  of  the  people  at  the  time  when  the  colonies 
became  a  republic. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  work,  on  which  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Hays  has  expended  time,  thought  and  research, 
will  be  welcomed  by  the  many  friends  who  have,  in  the 
North  and  in  the  South  in  their  Congress  addresses, 
so  enthusiastically  recalled  the  personal  qualities  and 
the  public  services  of  their  forefathers  and  their  country- 
men. In  1775  the  Presbyterian  Synod  issued  its 
"Pastoral  Letter,"  in  the  interests  of  independence. 
The  very  fact  of  its  holding  its  annual   meeting's  sue- 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

gested  the  union  of  the  colonies  in  a  colonial  congress. 
"  Never,  never  to  the  latest  day,"  says  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Bryson,  of  Huntsville,  Alabama,  "can  America  forget 
the  precious  blood  of  Ulster's  sons.  In  the  conflict  for 
freedom  they  were  conspicuous  for  unfaltering  fidelity 
and  indomitable  courage." 

The  circulation  of  this  contribution  to  the  history  of 
Presbyterianism  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  not  only  recall 
the  past  and  emphasize  its  suggestive  lesson,  but  will 
also  bear  beneficially  on  the  present  and  on  the  future. 

It  is  not  a  book  for  one  branch  of  the  great  Presby- 
terian family  in  the  United  States  (which  Dr.  Dor- 
chester estimates  as  including  about  a  million  and  a  half 
members,  representing  a  population,  probably,  of  six 
millions),  but  for  them  all.  Who  can  tell  how  far  it 
may  suggest  the  unwisdom  of  division,  and  the  desira- 
bleness of  co-operation,  even  of  organic  union  ?  There 
are  sections  of  the  great  family  that  differ  as  to  the  ma- 
terial that  should  be  used  to  express  praise  to  Almighty 
God.  There  are  differences  of  views  regarding  the 
duties  of  citizens  to  the  civil  government  as  it  now 
stands — a  matter  not  materially  affecting  personal  con- 
secration. Why  not  unite  these  organizations  for  mis- 
sionary and  benevolent,  for  educational  and  for  reform- 
atory work,  giving  to  each  congregation  the  right  of 
choice  as  to  hymns  or  psalms  in  praise,  and  to  each  in- 
dividual the  right  of  decision  on  his  duty  as  to  the 
matter  of  voting?  On  these  matters  we  propound  no 
theory.  We  only  look  for  the  raising  of  such  ques- 
tions, and  we  expect  to  help  in  the  answers  to  them 
from  the  history  of  the  past  two  centuries. 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

Nor  is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  many  outside 
the  Presbyterian  ranks  will  be  interested  in  this 
history.  He  who  carefully  scrutinizes  the  moral  and 
religious  life  of  a  race  like  the  Anodo-Saxon  cannot  fail 
to  see  how  one  part  of  the  people  may  emphasize  a 
truth  for  the  good  of  all  the  rest.  Who,  for  example, 
fails  to  recognize  the  service  rendered  to  us  all  by  the 
Wesleys  and  by  Whitfield,  who,  in  a  time  of  cold  for- 
malism in  the  churches,  brought  out  and  held  up  to 
human  souls  the  need  of  regeneration  and  conversion  ? 
Does  not  the  steady,  conservative  life  of  the  "  Dutch 
Reformed  Church,"  as  it  used  to  be  called,  teach  a  o-ood 
and  useful  lesson  in  a  time  and  place  when  "  some  new 
thing "  has  an  attraction  of  its  own  ?  May  it  not  be 
possible — and  we  say  this  without  undue  self-compla- 
cency— that  there  may  be  elements  unfolded  in  the  life 
of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  that  others  can  study  with 
advantage.  We  have  been  used  to  magnify  the  word 
of  God,  to  aim  at  intelligent  belief,  to  prefer  the  deci- 
sion of  the  understanding  to  the  impulse  of  an  emotion, 
to  lay  upon  the  members  a  sense  of  responsibility  in  the 
choice  of  officers,  and  to  magnify  the  place  of  Christ  as 
King  and  Head  of  the  Church,  the  Chief  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  souls.  The  reliance  of  our  fathers  for  spir- 
itual success,  for  true  church  prosperity,  was  not  on 
wealth  or  social  position,  or  attractions  that  appealed  to 
the  senses,  but  on  the  word  of  God  applied  to  dead 
sOuls  that  they  might  live,  and  to  living  souls  that  they 
might  grow  by  the  Divine  Spirit.  Can  we  lose  any- 
thing by  holding  to  this  plan?  Can  we  gain  any  true, 
spiritual,     enduring,     eternal     results     by    any    lower 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

methods?  Even  for  the  community  as  such  may  not 
this  be  a  beneficent  course  ?  May  not  a  church-life  of 
which  these  are  the  characteristics  tell  beneficially 
upon  citizens  as  such,  upon  communities,  upon  the 
State  and  the  nation  ?  If  Motley  is  correct  in  the  state- 
ment that  "  Holland,  England  and  America  owe  their 
liberties  to  Calvinists,"  may  not  the  methods  so  de- 
scribed, and  the  principles  connected  with  that  name, 
though  not  always  understood,  perpetuate  and  extend 
good  influences?  If  Ranke,  like  D'Aubigne,  is  right 
in  the  belief  that  this  system  of  religious  belief  and  life 
was  "  the  true  founder  of  the  American  government," 
may  it  not  be  good  also  in  conserving  and  perpetuating 
its  best  elements  and  in  repressing  any  evil  forces 
brought  to  bear  upon  it  ?  If  Froude,  Lecky,  Macaulay 
and  other  historians  rightly  represent  things  when  cred- 
iting English  liberty  to  the  courage  and  other  virtues 
of  the  Calvinistic  Puritan,  may  it  not  be  for  the  public 
good,  when  some  perils  to  our  free  institutions  loom  up 
before  thoughtful  minds,  that  the  same  inspiration 
should  be  sought,  and  the  same  moral  qualities  nurtured 
that  secured  this  blessing  ?  If  Carlyle  is  right  in  the 
statement  that  "  a  man's  religion  is  the  chief  fact  with 
regard  to  him,"  is  it  not  of  some  moment  that  we  should 
try  to  propagate  and  foster  such  a  religion  ?  We  are 
getting  Irishmen  to-day  in  great  numbers.  Can  it  do 
them  aught  but  good  to  hold  up  to  them  Irishmen  who 
came  to  America  for  freedom  of  conscience  and  popular 
liberty,  and  who  lived,  and  in  many  cases  died,  to  up- 
hold these  things?  French  and  Swiss  are  coming 
among  us.     Can  we  recall  to  them  a  prouder  name  than 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

that  of  the  countryman  of  the  one  by  birth,  of  the  other 
by  adoption  ?  Italians,  Swedes,  Bohemians  are  crowd- 
ing to  our  shores.  Can  we  present  to  them  any  better 
agency  for  teaching  men  the  right  use  of  regulated  lib- 
erty than  that  which  made  this  land  worth  coming  to  ? 

In  view  of  the  facts  thus  stated,  or  suggested,  we 
cannot  but  look  for  good  from  the  disseminating  and  the 
intelligent  use  of  this  volume  ;  and  we  hope  that  Chris- 
tian and  patriotic  people,  whose  life  and  whose  heredi- 
tary lines  it  teaches,  will  be  at  pains  to  use  it  and  to  pro- 
mote its  circulation. 


Minister  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 
New  York,  March  31,  1892. 


INTRODUCTION 

By  the  Rev.  WILLIAM  E.  MOORE,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

This  brief  sketch  of  Presbyterianism  by  Dr.  Hays 
will  be  of  great  value  to  all  the  ministers,  elders  and 
members  of  our  Church  who  wish  to  look  beyond  the 
facts  of  Presbyterian  history  to  the  root  and  fruit  of 
Presbyterianism  itself.  The  history  of  Presbyterianism 
is  far  wider  than  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Presbyterianism  is  both  a  polity  and  a  doctrine.  Dr. 
Hays  traces  both  to  the  Bible.  As  a  doctrine,  it  is 
commonly  known  under  the  name  of  Calvinism.  As  a 
polity,  it  is  known  as  a  system  of  church  government 
which  rejects  alike  the  rule  of  one  man  and  the  rule  of 
the  extemporized  and  irresponsible  assembly  ;  but  which 
asserts  the  right  of  self-government  through  its  own 
chosen  representatives  administering  rule  and  discipline 
in  accordance  with  the  word  of  God.  Its  polity  is  the 
fruit  of  its  doctrine.  That  doctrine  asserts  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God  over  all  men  and  affirms  the  personal 
responsibility  of  every  man  to  God,  who  alone  is  Lord 
of  the  conscience.  It  knows  no  mediator  between 
God  and  man,  save  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  recog- 
nizes no  authority  in  spiritual  things  that  does  not  rest 
for  its  sanction  upon  the  revealed  word  of  God,  which 
it  holds  to  be  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  con- 
duct.     In  the  nature  of  things,  its  views  of  God  and  of 


Xl'v  INTRODUCTION. 

man  as  related  to  Him  and  his  fellow-men  must  lead 
to  the  assertion  of  personal  liberty  under  the  powers 
ordained  of  God,  as  the  inalienable  right  of  all  men 
everywhere. 

The  Theocratic  state  was  a  republic.  Its  rulers 
under  God  were  the  elders  of  Israel.  The  Christian 
Church  in  its  earliest  organization  was  a  republic.  Its 
rulers  under  Christ  were  the  elders  of  the  people  of  God. 
The  doctrine,  like  the  polity,  is  drawn  from  the  Bible. 
There  is  no  necessary  connection  between  government 
by  chosen  representation  and  the  doctrines  of  grace  ; 
but  the  affinity  between  them  is  so  close  that,  given  the 
one,  we  naturally  expect  the  other.  I  need  hardly 
point  out  the  influence  of  Presbyterian  polity  on  the 
civil  institutions  of  our  country.  Towns,  cities,  States 
— the  nation — are  the  counterparts  of  the  Session,  Pres- 
bytery, Synod  and  General  Assembly.  Free  institu- 
tions in  civil  life  are  the  necessary  corollary  of  the  doc- 
trines of  grace.  But  I  may  refer  to  the  influence  of  our 
polity  on  well  nigh  every  church  organization.  Inde- 
pendency is  no  longer  purely  democratic.  Prelacy  is  no 
longer  purely  monarchical.  Lay  representation  is  the 
demand  of  every  form  of  Protestant  Episcopacy,  with 
ominous  signs  even  in  the  Roman  Church.  Association 
is  the  recognized  necessity  of  all  "Independent" 
churches  ;  a  session,  in  fact,  if  not  in  form,  is  found  in 
every  individual  church. 

Dr.  Hall  has  shown  that  the  Scotch-Irish,  who  most 
largely  settled  the  middle  section  of  our  country,  were 
the  most  influential  factors  in  planting  Presbyterian 
churches    of   various   names ;  but  we   must  remember 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

also  that  with  inconsiderable  exceptions  all  the  early 
immigrants  to  these  regions  were  from  the  Reformed 
churches  in  Europe  and  held  the  doctrines  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Of  Romanists  there  were  few,  and 
few  Episcopalians  except  in  Virginia.  The  Methodists 
were  not  yet.  Presbyterian  churches  and  ministers 
were  few.  Presbyterian  men  and  women  followed  up 
the  fertile  valleys,  and  crossed  the  mountains,  and 
when  they  could  find  or  form  no  church  of  their  own, 
merged  in  any  Evangelical  church  which  might  be  con- 
venient. Largely,  they  were  lost  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  but  not  to  Presbyterianism. 

Their  spiritual  life  flows  in  the  veins  of  every  Evan- 
gelical body  in  our  land.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the 
form  and  expression  of  our  Presbyterian  faith  has  been 
much  modified  by  our  contact  and  co-operation  with 
other  Christians  in  all  evangelistic  work.  It  is  also 
true  that  their  forms  and  expressions  of  doctrine  have 
been  modified  by  ours,  so  that  in  the  substantial  of 
faith  there  is  agreement  and  unity  unknown  since  the 
Reformation.  The  growth  of  the  missionary  spirit  in  its 
largest  sense — as  Dr.  Hays  sets  it  forth — is  eminently  in- 
structive. The  power  of  the  religious  press  is  suggestive 
of  the  duty  and  privilege  of  all  Presbyterians  to  inform 
themselves  and  their  families  of  the  things  pertaining  to 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  saddest  and  darkest  page 
of  our  past  history  is  the  story  of  the  division  of  1741  ; 
the  Cumberland  division  of  1805,  anc^  ^le  division  of 
1838,  with  their  preceding,  concomitant  and  following 
strife,  alienation  and  loss.  No  man  to-day  defends 
them  ;  no  good  or  great  thing  in  our  history  is  traced 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

to  them.  Our  fathers  contended  earnestly  for  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  as  they  held  it.  No 
one  doubts  their  sincerity  ;  but  they  who  strove  so  bit- 
terly came  together,  after  intervals  respectively  of 
seventeen  and  thirty-one  years,  and  unanimously  agreed 
to  receive  each  other  as  brethren  mutually  sound  in  the 
common  faith.  Do  the  muttering  thunders  on  our 
ecclesiastical  horizon  portend  that  history  is  to  repeat 
itself  in  disunion,  confusion,  reunion,  regret  and  loss? 

Dr.  Hays'  book  is  a  manual  compact  and  reliable, 
which  ought  to  be  in  every  family  of  our  Presbyterian 
Church. 


(JT&  IPitnrvL 


Columbus,  O.,  April  20,  1892. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRESBYTERIANISM    IN   THE   BIBLE. 

PAGE 

Mosaic  Elders— Elders  with  David,  Solomon  and  the  Kings— The  Synagogue  and 
the  Captivity— The  Great  Synagogue— Elders  of  the  Synagogue  in  the  Time 
of  Christ— The  Spirit  through  the  Apostles  Adopts  the  Synagogue  with  its 
Officers  and  Organization— Ekklesia  or  Church— Organic  Unity  by  Appellate 
Assemblies— Council  at  Jerusalem,  a  General  Assembly  with  Authority— Various 
Names  for  Various  Duties 25 

CHAPTER    II. 

PRESBYTERIANISM  IN    EUROPE — BEFORE,    DURING    AND    AFTER    THE    REFORMATION. 

The  Culdees — Bohemians — The  Waldenses — Printing — Epoch  of  Luther,  Calvin, 
Knox,  Francis  I.,  Charles  V.,  Henry  VIII.,  Holland — Two  Marys  and  Eliza- 
beth— Westminster  Assembly— Presbyterianism  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland— 
The  Mixture  of   Emigrants  for   America.         ........     36 

CHAPTER  III. 

AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING — THE    FIRST   PRESBYTERY. 

Early  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  Settlements — Puritans  in   Virginia  and   New 
England  —  Practicing    Various    Forms    of    Church    Government  —  Alexander 
Whitaker— Richard   Denton — Francis  Makemie — Presbytery  Organized  to  Ordain 
Boyd  —  Curious    Records  —  Makemie's    Descendants  —  Andrews,    Macnish    and 
Hampton.  .  .  .  ..........     58 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    FIRST   SYNOD   AND    ITS    DIVISION. 

Rapid  Growth  from  Mingling  Immigrants— Foreign  Troubles  Brought  Blessings  Here 
— "Fund  for  Pious  Uses" — Missions— New  York  Aided — Scotch  Contributions 
in  Goods — Delegated  Synod — Questions  of  Morals — Law  Suits  Condemned — ■ 
State  Interference— Foreign  Ordinations — Ministerial  Education — British  Doctrinal 
Controversies — Revivals — The  Tennents  and  Whitefield — The  Two  Protests,  and 
the  Split — Calm  Afterward 77 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE   SYNODS   UNITED — THE   AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Presbyterian  Growth — Episcopacy  Distrusted — Lord  Cornbury's  Stupidity  Helps 
Freedom — Varied  Successes  by  Struggles  in  England — That  Lesson  Followed 
Here — Watching  against  a  State  Church — "  Election  Sermons  "  and  Political 
Education — The  Difficulties  Obstructing  Union — Union  of  Colonies  and  Union  of 
Synods — The  Synods  United  Grow  Rapidly — Presbyterians  Suspected  by  Tories — 
Mechlenburg  Declaration — Work  in  War  Times — Preachers  Killed — Caldwell  of 
Elizabethtown — Preachers  in  Civil  Affairs — Dr.  John  Witherspoon — Synods  During 
the  Revolution — Choice  Men  in  Trying  Times.  .......     97 

xvii 


xviii  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH    AND   NATION. 

PAGE 

Peace  after  War— Synodical  Meetings  Small— Delegated  Meetings— The  Assembly 
Created,  and  Four  Synods  Erected — Presbyterianism  in  the  United  States  Consti- 
tution—Washington  and  the  Presbyterians — Presbyterianism  familiar  to  Alexan- 
der Hamilton,  James  Madison  and  other  Leaders  in  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion—The Parallel  between  the  two  Systems  of  Government — French  Infidelity — 
Skeptical  Public  Men— Infidel  College  Students — Wages  of  Missionaries — Iniquity 

Giving  Way  to  Grace, 123. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   GREAT    REVIVAL   OF    l8oo. 

Deadness  Followed  by  Revival — Camp  Meetings — "  Bodily  Exercises" — Cumberland 
Presbytery  —  The  Separation — "Falling  Work"  of  Western  Pennsylvania — 
Revivals  and  Missions — "Plan  of  Union" — Presbyterian  Congregationalism — 
Candidates  for  the  Ministry — Princeton  Theological  Seminary— Temperance — 
Dueling — Slavery — Statistics  of  Fifteen  Years — Characteristics  of  Leading  Men,     .   145 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

DIVISION    INTO   OLD   AND   NEW   SCHOOL  CHURCHES. 

"  Era  of  Good  Feeling  " — Presbyteries  and  Synods  Organized — Theological  Semi- 
naries and  Colleges — Church  Digest  and  Histories — Parties  Forming — Plan  of 
Union  and  Committeemen — External  Doctrinal  Controversies — Voluntary  Societies 
vs.  Church  Boards — Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society — "The  Exscinding 
Acts  " — Protests  and  Answers — The  Assembly  Divided — The  Duffield,  Beecher 
and  Barnes  Trials — All  Three  Acquitted,         .         . 167 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  OLD   SCHOOL   BRANCH. 

New  Boards  Organized— Elders  in  the  Ordination  of  Ministers,  and  in  Quorums— Slav- 
ery in  1845 — "Spring  Resolutions  "  of  1861 — Presbyterian  General  Assembly  at  Au- 
gusta—" Declaration  and  Testimony  " — Gurley's  "  Ipso  Facto  "  Resolutions — Judi- 
cial Commissions— Massacred  Missionaries— The  Week  of  Prayer — Presbyter- 
ian Commentary— Church  Newspaper — Doctrinal  Energy  and  Unity,      .         .         .  188 

CHAPTER   X. 

THE   NEW   SCHOOL   BRANCH. 

The  Doctrinal  Position — "  Auburn  Declaration  " — Depletion  by  Departures  to  Con- 
gregationalism —  The  Litigation  —  Triennial  Assemblies  —  Home  Missionary 
Energy— American  Home  Missionary  Society— Partiality  in  Dealing  with  Denom- 
inations— Protracted  Slavery  Discussion— Church  Extension  Committee — One 
Hundred  Thousand  Dollar  Church  Erection  Fund— Home  Mission  Itinerant 
Missionaries— An  Estimate  of  its  Church  Life, 200 

CHAPTER  XI. 

REUNION   AND  CONSOLIDATION. 

Laymen  Determined  on  Union— First  Steps— First  Joint  Committees— Outside  Con- 
ventions—Presbyterian National  LTnion  Convention— Basis  of  Union— "  The 
Standards  Pure  and  Simple  "—New  York  Assemblies  of  i860— Pittsburgh  Meeting 
and  Formalities— Street  Meeting  and  Mass  Meetings— Five  Million  Memorial  Fund— 
Healthful,  Educating   and  Repairing  Processes, 218 

CHAPTER    XII. 

READJUSTMENT    NECESSITATED    BY    LARGENESS. 

Reconstruction   of   Boundaries— A   General   Church   Treasurer— Limitation  of  Ap- 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  xix 

PAGE 

peals — Judicial    Commissions — Revised    Book    of    Discipline — Foreign    National 
Presbyterian  Churches — Reduction  of  the  Size  of  the  Assembly — Expenses  of  the 
Assembly — Assembly  Programme  for  Boards — The  Pacific  Coast  Meeting,     .         .  235 
CHAPTER  XIII. 

EDUCATION,    COLLEGES    AND   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARIES. 

The  Bible  on  Learning— The  Reformers— Early  Academies— Log  Colleges — Princeton 
College — Rich  Colleges  and  Poor  Colleges — Theological  Seminaries:  Princeton, 
Auburn,  Union  (Va.),  Allegheny,  Lane,  McCormick,  Union  (N.  Y.),  Danville, 
Columbia  (S.  C),   Pacific — German  Seminaries — Freedmen's  Institutions — Totals 

of  Northern  Presbyterian  Investments, 254 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

MISSIONS    AND   CHURCH    BOARDS. 

Missions  Always,  All  the  Time,  and  Everywhere— Early  Plans— Itinerants— The  Boards 
— Home  Missions — Foreign  Missions — Education — Publication  and  Sabbath  School 
Work — Church  Erection— Ministerial  Relief— Freedmen— College  Aid— Committee 
on  Systematic  Beneficence -Temperance  Committee— Church  at  Homeand  Abroad,  286 

CHAPTER  XV. 

NEWSPAPERS— PHILANTHROPIES— CHURCH    UNITY. 

The  Oldest  Religious  Newspaper— Present  Papers  and  Circulation— Newspaper 
Influence  —  Presbyterians  in  Union  Hospitals  —  Presbyterian  Hospitals— False 
Charge  of  Presbyterian  Narrowness— Inter-denominational  Movements,  Bible 
Societies,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.,  etc.— Propositions  for  Church  Unity— Pres- 
byterian Alliance— Possibilities  of  Universal  Church  Union— Encomiums  of  Dorner, 
Carlyle,  Froude,  Archbishop  Hughes  and  Prof.  Fiske, 345 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

REVISION  OF   THE    CONFESSION  OF  FAITH. 

The  Providential  Tasks  of  a  Denomination— All  Denominations  Affected  by  Every 
Discussion  of  Fundamentals— Parties  not  yet  Developing  in  the  Assembly— Early 
Creeds  and  Westminster  Standards— The  Controversial  Style— Presbyterial  Over- 
tures for  Revision— Assembly's  Committee  on  Revision— Instructions  Based  on 
Presbyterial  Overtures— Committee's  First  Report  of  Progress— Three  Types  of 
Opinion— Committee's  Final  Report— Assembly's  Action  Thereon,  .         .         .  364 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARIES. 

Biblical  Criticism— Biblical  Introduction— Literary  Criticism— Textual  Criticism- 
Higher  Criticism  and  the  "  Difficulties  of  the  Bible"— Diversities  of  Style— Astruc, 
Eichhorn,  Elohist,  Jehovist,  etc.— Rationalistic  and  Evangelical  Higher  Criticism- 
Position  of  Prof.  CharTes  A.  Briggs—  His  Inauguration  as  Professor  of  Biblical 
Theology  in  Union  Seminary,  New  York— President  Butler's  Endowment  of  the 
Chair— Trial  of  Dr.  Briggs  and  Issue— Inspiration— Verbal,  Plenary,  Conceptual  and 
General  Inspiration — Prophecy  and  Inspiration— Union  Theological  Seminary  and 
the  General  Assembly— The  Veto  of  Dr.  Briggs'   Transfer— The  Compact  of  1870 

and  its  Peculiarities— The  Committee  of  Conference, 377 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

DISTINCTIVE    PECULIARITIES   OF    PRESBYTERIAN    DENOMINATIONS. 

The  Distinctions,  Real  Differences— Historic  Meaning  of  Names— Church  Officers  and 
the  Civil  Courts— Sessions,  Trustees  and  Deacons— Rights  of  Each  Body  — Legal 
Decisions  Quoted— Calvinism  and  Arminianisni— Foreordination— Original  Sin- 
Total  Depravity— Election— Perseverance  of  the  Saints  — Psalmody— Secret  Socie- 
ties—Licensing and  Ordaining  Men  Lacking  College  Training— Spirituality  of  the 
Church— Work  among  the  Colored  People— Open  and  Close  Communion— Boards 
or  Committees— Nations  and  the  Dominion  of  Christ,  .....  395 


XX  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

REFORMED    PRESBYTERIAN  (COVENANTER)    CHURCH. 

PAGE 

Old  Testament  Covenanting;— The  State  Subject  to  God— Scotch  Covenants— 
"Solemn  League  and  Covenant  "—"  Sanquhar  Declaration"— People  without  a 
Minister— Scotch  Immigrants — A  Reformed  Presbytery  Organized— Union  with 
the  Associate  Church — Presbytery  Reorganized— Division  in  1830-33— Present 
Statistics— Missions  and  Average  Gifts— Covenant  Renewed  in^  187 1— Voting- 
Incorporation  with  the  Government— "  National  Reform"  Association— Voting 
for  Prohibition  Amendments— "East  End  Platform  "—Its  Signers  Disciplined,  413 
CHAPTER  XX. 

UNITED   PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Its  Origin— Antecedent  Churches— The  Union— Organization— Spirit  of  the  Church 
—Communion— Slavery— Psalmody— Secret  Societies — Spiritual  Life— Work  of 
the  Church— Home  Missions — Foreign  Missions—  Freedmen— Church  Building— Pub- 
lication and  other  Boards— Women's  Work— Young  People's  Societies — Educa- 
tional Institutions— Theological  Seminaries  and  Colleges— Periodicals — Statistics 
and  Growth, 425 

CHAPTER  XXL 

THE   CUMBERLAND   PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Cumberland  Presbytery  Organized— Great  Spiritual  Death — Rev.  James  McGready 
and  his  Religious  Experience— His  Awakening— Preaching — The  Revival  Work 
Begins— Opposition  from  Scoffers  and  also  from  Christians— McGready's  Prayer 
Covenant— Camp-meetings  Begun— Objections  to  Revival  Methods— Licensing  Men 
who  Lacked  Classical  Education— Cumberland  Presbytery  Organized,  then  Dis- 
banded by  Synod— Cumberland  Presbytery  Reorganized  Independently — Doctrinal 
Differences  Irreconcilable—"  The  Cumberland  Council"  vs.  "  The  Synod's  Commis- 
sion "—The  Confession   and  Fatalism— Cumberland    Presbytery  Grows  Rapidly 

The  Revival   Spreading— Cumberland   Synod   Organized— The  First  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  General  Assembly— Statistics  of   Growth— The  Amended  Confession 
of  Faith— Educational  Institutions— Missionary  Progress— Church  Boards— Grow- 
ing by  Conversions  not  by  Proselytes— Inter-denominational  Fraternity,         .         -451 
CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

Historic  Presbyterianism— Early  Southern  People— Educational  Enterprises— Share 
in  American  Presbyterian  History— Old  School  Assembly  of  1861— Dr.  Spring's 
Political  Resolutions— Protest  of  Dr.  Hodge— Southern  Presbyteries  Separate  from 
its  Jurisdiction— The  Atlanta  Gathering  and  the  Assembly  at  Augusta— The 
Separate  Church  Organized— The  Spirituality  of  the  Church— The  Quarter-Cente- 
nary Celebration— Presbyterians  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri  Join  the  Southern 
Church— The  Organization  of  Church  Committees  Instead  of  Church  Boards— Their 
Work,  Location  and  Secretaries— Theological  Seminaries— Colleges— Philanthro- 
pies—Church  Papers— Historic,  Heroic  Leaders— Fraternal  Spirit  and  Future 
Prospects, 478 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION. 

Roman,  Greek  and  Anglican  Communion— Total  Presbyterians— Presbyterian  Doc- 
trine and  I "olity— Presbyterian  Fathers  from  Augustine  (430)  to  the  Reformation- 
Presbyterians  in  Switzerland,  France,  Germany,  Holland,  Hungary,  Italy,  Spain, 
1,  Scotland,  England,  Ireland,  Wales,  United  States,  Canada,  Brazil,  Japan, 
Asia,  Africa  and  Australasia— Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches— Standards 
and  Influence  of  Presbyterians, 5II 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


Following  are  the  principal  historical  works  consulted  and 
relied  on  for  the  facts  contained  in  the  following  pages  : 

Gillett's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Hodge's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Webster's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Briggs's  American  Presbyterianism. 

Sprague's  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit.  (Vol.  III.  Presby- 
terian.) 

Sprague's  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit.  (Vol.  IV.  Presby- 
terian.) 

Reunion  Memorial  Volume. 

Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.     1706-1788. 

Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly.     1 789-1820. 

Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly.     1821-1835. 

File  of  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  (Old  School) 
1838-1869. 

File  of  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  (New  School) 
1838-1869. 

File  of  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  1870-1891. 

Baird's  Assembly  Digest.     (Ed.  1858.) 

Moore's  Digest  of  the  Presbyterian  Assembly.     (Ed.  1861.) 

Moore's  Presbyterian  Digest.     (Ed.  1873.) 

Moore's  Presbyterian  Digest.     (Ed.  1886.) 

Miller,  On  Ruling  Elders. 

Hetherington's  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

McCrie's  Life  of  John  Knox. 

Works  of  John  Calvin. 

Guizot's  Life  of  John  Calvin. 

Haydn's  Dictionary  of  Dates. 

Fisher's  Outlines  of  Universal  History. 

Clare's  Universal  History  and  History  of  the  United  States. 


XXli  LIST   OF   AUTHORITIES. 

Dorchester's  Christianity  in  the  United  States. 

Nevin's  Presbyterian  Encyclopedia. 

Jackson's  Concise  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge. 

Bliss's  Encyclopedia  of  Missions. 

Schaff-Herzog's  Religious  Encyclopedia. 

Encyclopedia  Britannica. 

Kiddle  &  Schem's  Cyclopedia  of  Education. 

Edersheim's  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus. 

Schaff's  Creeds  of  Christendom. 

Bingham's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church. 

D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation. 

Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Gieseler's  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Brace's  Gesta  Christi,  or  Humane  Progress. 

Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States. 

Bryant's  History  of  the  United  States. 

Knight's  History  of  England. 

Presbyterian  Church  Throughout  the  World.  Published  by  D. 
C.  Lent,  1874. 

Glasgow's  History  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 

Reid's  United  Presbyterianism. 

M'Donnold's  History  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 

Memorial  Addresses,  Quarter-Centennial  of  the  Southern 
Assembly,  1886. 

Breed's  Presbyterians  and  the  Revolution. 

Tercentenary  Book.  Celebration  of  the  Life  and  Work  of 
John  Knox. 

Smith's  Mediaeval  Missions. 

Wright's  The  Early  Church  in  Britain. 

Bowen's  The  Days  of  Makemie. 

Alexander's  Log  College. 

Smith's  History  of  Jefferson  College  and  "  Log  Cabin  "  Schools. 

Speer's  The  Great  Revival  of  1800. 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  ENCYCLOPAEDIA. 

Edited  by  ALFRED  NEVIN,  D.  D.  LL.  D.,  and  other 
Eminent  Divines. 


A  Complete   Encyclopedia  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
Historical,  Biographical,  Satistical  and  Doctrinal. 

A    STANDARD     WORK    OF     REFERENCE. 


It  contains  1248  Pages,  328   Wood  and    Steel    Illustrations,  and    is   handsomely 
and  Substantially  bound  in  Half  Turkey  Morocco. 


Its  size  is  :  Length,  11  in. ;  Breadth,  8  in.;  Thickness,  3  in.     Weight,  8  pounds. 


An  Exceptional  Opportunity. 

By  special  arrangements  with  the  publishers  we  are  enabled  to  supply  pur- 
chasers of  "  Presbyterians"  with  a  limited  number  of  copies  of  The  Pres- 
byterian Encyclopaedia,  a  most  valuable  reference  work  at  the  greatly  re- 
duced price  of  S3. 25,  charges  paid  to  any  part  of  the  United  States.  Former 
price  $10.00.  If  our  supply  has  been  exhausted  when  order  is  received,  money 
will  be  promptly  refunded. 

TESTIMOUIiiLS. 


"The  book  is  so  valuable  that  no  intelligent 
member  of  our  Church  can  afford  to  be  without 
it." — Neiv  Yor  k  Observer . 

"It  is  marvellous  how  admirably  a  great  variety 
of  facts  and  incidents  have  been  gathered  up, 
grouped  together,  and  placed  under  headings  so 
readily  accessible." — The  Presbyterian. 

"It  is  a  grand  volume  of  1250  pages.  The  ac- 
complished editor  and  his  assistants  have  admir- 
ably performed  their  difficult  task." — St.  Louis 
Presbyterian. 

"  Comprehensive  and  excellant.  We  have 
lingered  over  the  ample  and  exceedingly  interest- 
ing pages  with  something  of  the  enthusiasm 
of  Dominie  Sampson." — Chicago  Interior. 

"A  whole  library  of  information  concerning 
person-;,  places,  doctrines,  methods  of  work  and 
movements  in  the  Presbyterian  Chorch."—  West- 
minister  Teacher. 

Address, 


"A  large  and  attractive  volume.  The  portraits 
are  remarkably  good  ;  a  comprehensive  view  of 
the  history  of  the  Church,  its  chief  actors,  and 
all  its  workings." — Cincinnati  Herald  and  Pres- 
byter. 

"It  is  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  bio- 
graphical history  of  the  great  American  Presby- 
terian community.  Its  varied  contents  will  grow 
in  interest  constantly,  with  the  lapse  of  time." 
—Rev.  A.  A.  Hodge,  D.D.,  Princeton,  N.  J.  ' 

"It  will  prove  to  be  one  of  the  most  valuable 
and  cherished  volumes  of  our  Church  Literature  " 
— Rev.  Willis  Lord,  D.D. 

"A  most  valuable  handbook  in  Presbyterian 
households  througOut  the  world  " — Joseph  T 
Smith,  />./).  Baltimore,  Md. 

"Its  comprehensiveness  is  remarkable.  It  is 
a  book  which  Presbyterians  must  value,  and  in 
which  they  will  be  lastingly  interested."  —  Hon. 
Judge-Strong,   ('.  S.  Supreme  Court. 


J.  A  HILL  &  CO.,  Rubl/shers, 


44    EAST    !4th    STREET.    New  York  City. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


rtcaits  \ 

PAGE 

Calvin,  John,      .... 

Frontispiece 

Knox,  John, 

36 

Alexander,   Archibald, 

.       145 

Barnes,  Albert, 

167 

Beard,   Richard, 

•       472 

Cooper,  Joseph  T., 

436 

Elliott,  David, 

.       188 

Ewing,    Finis, 

45i 

Kendall,   Henry, 

290 

Lowrie,  John  Cameron,     . 

3°7 

Plumer,  William   S.,     . 

•      498 

Pressly,   John   T., 

425 

Sloane,   J.   R.   W., 

•       413 

Smith,   Henry  B.,      . 

200 

Thornwell,  James   H., 

•       478 

Witherspoon,  John, 

123 

Ubeoloolcal  Seminaries : 

Allegheny,   Allegheny,   Pa., 

Auburn,  Auburn,  N.  Y., 

Columbia,  Columbia,   S.   C, 

Lane,   Cincinnati,   O., 

McCormick,   Chicago,   III., 

Oldest   in   America, 

Princeton,   Princeton,   N.  J., 

San   Francisco,   San   Francisco,    Cal., 

Tokyo,  Japan,      .... 

Union,    Hampden-Sidney,   Va., 

Union,   New  York,   N.   Y., 

Western,   Allegheny,   Pa., 

Xenia,    Xenia,   O.,  .  . 

Colleoes  ant)  "Clniversities : 

Albert  Lea  College  (Female),  Albert  Lea,  Minx. 
Biddle  University,  Charlotte,   N.  C, 
Central  University,   Richmond,   Ky., 


433 
205 

487 
213 

195 
447 
160 
281 

3°4 
500 

389 
525 
450 


373 
329 
492 


XXIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Centre  College,   Danville,    Ky.,     . 

College  of  Emporia,  Emporia,   Kan., 

College  of  Montana,  Deer  Lodge,   Mont., 

Davidson  College,  Davidson,   N.   C, 

Geneva  College,  Beaver  Falls,   Pa., 

Hamilton  College,   Clinton,   N.  Y., 

Hampden-Sidnev  (Va.)  College, 

Hanover  College,   Hanover,   Ind., 

Houghton  Seminary   (Female),  Clinton,  N.  Y., 

Lafayette  College,  Easton,   Pa.,  . 

Lake  Forest  University,   Lake  Forest,  III., 

Lincoln   University,   Lincoln,   III., 

Macalaster  College,   St.   Paul,   Minn.,     . 

McMillan's  Log  College,   Cannonsburg,   Pa., 

Missouri  Valley  College,   Marshall,   Mo., 

Monmouth  College,  Monmouth,    III., 

Park  College,   Parkville,   Mo., 

Parsons  College,  Fairfield,   Ia., 

Pennsylvania  College  (Female),   Pittsburgh,   Pa., 

Princeton  College,  Princeton,  N.  J., 

Southwestern   University,   Clarksville,  Tenn., 

Syrian  Protestant  College,  Beirut,  Syria, 

Trinity  University,  Tehuacana,  Tex., 

University  of  Wooster,  Wooster,   O., 

Wabash  College,  Crawfordsville,   Ind., 

Washington  and  Jefferson  College,  Washington,  Pa. 

Waynesburg  College,  Waynesburg,   Pa., 

Westminster  College,   New  Wilmington,   Pa., 

Westminster  College,  Fulton,  Mo., 

Wilson  College  (Female),  Chambersburg,  Pa., 

Ibospftals,  Ibomes,  etc. : 

Cumb.  Presb.    Publishing  House,  Nashville,  Tenn., 
Home   for  Aged   Ministers,   Perth  Amboy,   N.  J., 
Industrial  School  and   Normal   Institute,   Ashe- 

ville,   N.  C,  . 

Industrial  School,  Sitka,  Alaska,      . 
Mission   Rooms,   53  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.   Y., 
Oldest  Presbyterian  Church   in   America, 
Presbyterian   Hosp.tal,    Allahabad,  India, 
Presbyterian   Hospital,  Baltimore,  Md., 
Presbyterian  Hospital,  Chicago,  III., 
Presbyterian   Hospital,   New  York,   N.  Y., 
Presbyterian   Hospital,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
Thornwell  Orphanage,  Clinton,  S.   C, 
Thornton   Home,   Evansville,   Ind., 
U.  P.   Orphans'   Home,   Allegheny,  Pa., 


85 
318 
310 

503 
422 
109 
482 
116 
269 

i73 
229 

458 
250 

91 
462 
440 

334 
238 
401 
73 
495 
53° 
465 
259 
153 
131 
469 
428 
509 
223 


476 
326 

293 
295 
287 

65 
300 
410 
357 
35o 
366 
5o5 
474 
445 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BIBLICAL    PRESBYTERIANISM. 

PRESBYTER  is  a  Greek  word,  not  translated  but  sim- 
ply transferred.  The  Greek  word  spelled  in  English 
would  be  presbuteros.  Translated  into  English  it  is 
the  word  "  elder."  If  it  had  been  the  Latin  word  and 
not  the  Greek  which  had  been  transferred,  it  would 
have  been  senior.  The  word  in  Hebrew  is  Zaqen.  In 
the  Old  Testament  that  word,  as  meaning  an  official 
person,  occurs  more  than  one  hundred  times.  Of  these 
forty-four  are  in  the  Pentateuch.  The  word  presbu- 
teros occurs  sixty  times  in  the  New  Testament.  This 
word,  therefore,  as  the  name  of  an  officer,  is  of  con- 
stant use  in  the  Scriptures. 

Government  by  representative  elders  is  imbedded  in 
all  Bible  history  and  instruction.  The  system  under- 
lies everything,  and  reappears  everywhere,  in  religious 
and  in  civil  affairs. 

It  has  been  quaintly  but  aptly  said  that  the  first  Gen- 
eral Assembly  was  called  by  Moses,  and  assembled  in 
Egypt  (Ex.  4  :  29).  His  authority  to  issue  this  call  is 
given  in  Exodus  3:16.  The  book  of  Deuteronomy  is 
the  farewell  address  of  Moses  to  these  elders  in  the 
hearing  of  the  people.     Of  the  book  of  Joshua,  chap- 

25 


26  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ters  23  and  24  are  similar  addresses  of  Joshua  to  these 
elders  as  representatives  of  the  Hebrew  people.  Joshua 
was  the  military  leader  under  Moses  and  the  chief 
officer  after  his  death.  As  representatives  of  the 
people  the  elders  came  to  Samuel  to  ask  for  a  king 
(I  Sam.  8  :  4).  The  elders  in  behalf  of  the  people  came 
down  to  Hebron  to  invite  David  to  take  the  dominion  of 
the  whole  nation  (II  Sam.  5  :  3).  When  Solomon  ded- 
icated the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  he  assembled  the  elders 
and  the  people  to  unite  with  him  in  that  service  (I 
Kings  8  :  1).  These  elders  {Zeqenim)  constantly  reap- 
pear throughout  the  history  of  the  kingdom,  and  are 
with  Jeremiah  at  the  time  of  the  carrying  away  into 
captivity. 

The  elder's  office  was  not  connected  specially  with 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle  or  the  temple.  That 
service  was  in  the  charge  of  the  priests  and  the  Levites. 
The  temple  worship  terminated  with  the  coming  of 
Christ.  It  had  been  impossible  to  observe  it  during 
the  captivity.  During  that  captivity,  however,  it  was 
necessary  that  the  people  should  assemble  frequently 
in  order  to  maintain  their  familiarity  with  the  religion  of 
Jehovah. 

In  the  midst  of  a  foreign  tongue,  surrounded  by  an 
idolatrous  people,  the  synagogue  organization  of  the 
Jewish  church  was  a  necessity  of  the  situation.  The 
people  were  already  familiar  with  the  name  of  elder  as 
a  governing  and  instructing  officer  in  their  midst. 
Just  when  and  how  the  synagogue  worship  first  began 
is  not  recorded  ;  but  at  the  return  from  the  captivity, 
under  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the  synagogue  was  perpet- 
uated in  Palestine  by  these  religious  reformers.  The 
existence  of    the  "  great  synagogue "  at    Jerusalem  is 


BIBLICAL   PRESBYTERIANISM.  27 

denied  by  Prof.  A.  Kuenen,  of  Leyden  ;  but  Dr.  Alfred 
Edersheim  in  his  Life  of  Christ,  vol.  I,  page  94,  note, 
notices  that  the  denial  of  its  existence  cannot  be  sus- 
tained. In  the  time  of  Christ  this  synagogue  worship 
was  familiar  to  the  Jews  in  Palestine  and  in  all  other 
countries.  The  notices  of  it  in  the  Rabbinical  writings, 
in  Josephus,  in  the  New  Testament  and  elsewhere,  are 
so  full  and  minute  that  its  plan  of  worship  can  be  dis- 
tinctly and  certainly  reconstructed. 

These  synagogues  had  as  their  governing  body  a 
bench  of  elders,  over  which  the  "chief  ruler"  was  the 
presiding  officer.  The  pulpit  of  the  assembly  room 
was  next  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  audience  faced  toward 
that  city.  There  was  a  regular  church  service,  and  a 
regular  speaker  or  preacher  for  the  instruction  of  the 
congregation.  The  authority  to  put  improper  persons 
"  out  of  the  synagogue "  was  vested  in  these  elders. 
Ten  families  could  constitute  a  synagogue,  and  three 
rulers  might  form  the  governing  body,  though  the 
number  might  be  much  larger.  The  Savior  frequently 
addressed  the  people  in  the  synagogues.  They  were 
part  of  the  religion  of  his  time  and  well  adapted  to  use 
in  all  countries.  The  synagogues  had  already  familiar- 
ized the  people  with  a  governing  body  of  their  own 
representatives,  and  with  regular  service  for  people  so 
assembled  together  for  religious  instruction. 

Unity  to  the  whole  was  secured  by  the  right  of  ap- 
peal, from  all  the  smaller  and  inferior  of  these  tribunals, 
to  the  highest  at  Jerusalem  for  a  final  settlement  of 
these  questions.  At  the  outset  the  nation  had  been 
made  familiar  with  this  system  of  appeals  from  lower 
to  hicrher  tribunals.  Moses  in  the  wilderness  had  or- 
ganized    the    Children   of    Israel   upon   that  plan   (Ex. 


28  PRESBYTERIANS. 

1 8  :  24,  26).  That  system  must  have  continued,  at  least 
with  regard  to  civil  affairs,  through  the  period  of  the 
Judges  and  the  Kings.  In  the  time  of  Christ  this  sys- 
tem of  appellate  tribunals  continued  in  respect  to  the 
Sanhedrim.  (Edersheim's  "  Life  of  Christ,"  vol.  II, 
page  554.)  By  this  system  difficult  cases  were  carried 
for  ultimate  decision  to  the  highest  authority,  and  in 
extreme  cases  decided  by  the  use  of  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim.  The  whole  religious  life  of  the  Hebrew  people 
was  permeated  with  this  notion  of  the  supreme  author- 
ity of  the  central  power  and  of  gradations  leading  up  to 
it.  They  were  themselves  a  chosen  people  out  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Religiously  Levi  was  the  chosen 
tribe,  the  priesthood  the  chosen  line  out  of  that  chosen 
tribe,  and  the  High  Priest  the  individual  next  to  God. 
In  civil  affairs  Judah  was  the  chosen  tribe,  and  the  king, 
through  whose  lineage  Christ  came,  was  the  supreme 
ruler.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  and  the 
return  from  Babylon,  there  was  a  similar  arrangement 
in  the  synagogues  for  the  maintenance  of  religious 
knowledge,  and  the  ultimate  authority  was  to  be  found 
in  the  rulers  at  Jerusalem. 

Christianity,  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  spread 
first  among  these  Jewish  people.  The  apostles  went 
into  the  synagogues  and  taught.  The  synagogue  was 
the  place  where  the  people  expected  instruction,  and 
where  teachers  went  for  the  communication  of  infor- 
mation. When  refused  admittance  to  the  synagogues, 
the  Christians  instinctively  turned  to  the  assembling  of 
themselves  together  in  their  own  houses.  Any  other 
course  would  have  needed  special  and  divine  organiza- 
tion, but  this  process  was  certain  to  go  on  unless  the 
apostles  provided  some  substitute.      Instead  of  provid- 


BIBLICAL   PRESBYTERIANISM.  29 

ing  a  substitute  the  apostles  followed  up  this  synagogue 
worship.  By  the  providence  of  God,  first,  through  the 
agency  of  the  captivity,  and  afterward  by  the  oppres- 
sion in  Jerusalem,  the  synagogue  service  had  been  made 
ready  to  hand,  and  its  methods  were  adopted  in  the 
New  Testament  Church.  This  will  explain  the  famili- 
arity which  is  manifested  in  the  Gospels,  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  in  all  the  Epistles,  with  the  words 
elder  and  teacher  and  exhortation  and  assembling  to- 
gether.  The  New  Testament  Church  was  distinctly 
founded  on  the  synagogue  worship,  and  was  itself  that 
synagogue  worship  adapted  to  the  kingdom  of  God 
under  the  second  great  dispensation. 

The  word  .synagogue  is  a  Greek  work  and  means 
simply  an  assembly  of  people,  like  our  word  congregation. 
It  contains  in  it  no  suggestion  of  the  spreading  abroad 
of  a  religion.  The  design  of  the  Jews  in  Babylon  and 
in  Palestine,  and  throughout  the  Dispersion,  was  simply 
the  maintenance  of  a  religious  life  already  extant 
among  themselves.  But  the  spirit  of  Christianity  aimed 
not  only  to  maintain  religious  life  where  it  already  ex- 
isted, but  to  extend  it  throughout  all  the  earth.  Its 
watchword  was  "  Go  ye  therefore  and  make  disci- 
ples of  all  the  nations."  The  forerunner,  John  the 
Baptist,  went  out  calling  to  men  to  come  to  repent- 
ance, and  the  design  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  was  to  fit  the  New  Testament 
Church  to  go  out  and  call  all  men  to  salvation.  This 
difference  of  spirit  between  the  old  Jewish  synagogue 
worship  and  the  New  Testament  aggressive  worship  was 
so  marked  that  it  soon  indicated  itself  in  the  language 
of  the  people.  The  early  Christians  were  so  energetic 
in  calling  their  followers  together  for  mutual   encour- 


30  PRESBYTERIANS. 

agement  and  prayer  and  exhortation,  and  in  calling  the 
outside  world  together  to  hear  of  the  Savior  and  His 
salvation,  that  the  name  of  their  assembly  came  to  be 
Ekklesia  (called  out).  Christians  were  the  called  of 
God,  and  were  sent  to  call  others  to  the  same  salvation. 
From  this  Greek  word  we  get  our  English  word  "  ec- 
clesiastical." In  heathen  cities,  therefore,  the  name  of 
the  assembly  soon  indicated  the  character  of  the  reli- 
gion. Synagogue  worship  was  Jewish  and  for  Jews 
alone,  but  the  worship  of  the  Ekklesia  was  Christian 
and  missionary. 

By  and  by  differences  of  view  on  various  matters  came 
up  among  the  Christians.  Some  of  these  controversies 
were  settled  by  the  elders  in  the  particular  church, 
or  by  the  moral  weight  or  inspired  authority  of  the 
apostles.  By  and  by  a  pivotal  question  arose  as  to  the 
relationship  between  this  New  Testament  Church,  as  a 
church  of  Christ,  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament which  had  foreshadowed  Christ.  Jewish  con- 
verts naturally  thought  that  the  Jewish  mark  of  faith 
in  the  God  of  the  Bible  was  the  distinct  mark  of  a  pro- 
fessor of  that  same  faith  in  the  New  Testament  times. 
Christian  Jews,  therefore,  insisted  on  the  perpetuation 
of  circumcision.  Others  insisted  that  circumcision  was 
a  part  of  the  Old  Testament  ceremonial  law,  and  that, 
while  there  was  no  objection  to  Jews  practicing  it,  that 
rite  was  not  obligatory  on  the  New  Testament  Church. 
Submission  to  it  ought  not  to  be  insisted  upon  with 
regard  to  the  Gentiles.  Baptism  had  been  preached 
by  John,  had  been  commanded  by  Christ,  been  admin- 
istered by  the  apostles,  and  was  to  be  the  New  Tes- 
tament substitute  for  circumcision  as  the  form  of  pro- 
fessing faith  in  the  triune  God.     This  question  was   a 


BIBLICAL   PRESBYTERIANISM.  3  I 

representative  one,  and  its  decision  would  settle  a  prin- 
ciple applicable  throughout  the  whole  range  of  religious 
service.  Remembering,  now,  the  Mosaic  method  of 
maintaining  unity  by  a  system  of  appeals  to  a  final 
authority,  and  the  synagogue  system  of  regulating  wor- 
ship by  the  decisions  of  the  Sanhedrim  at  Jerusalem,  it 
was  perfectly  certain  that  if  left  to  themselves,  the  New 
Testament  Church  would  come  together  to  determine 
a  policy  and  indicate  the  same  by  its  conclusions  upon 
this  question  of  circumcision.  The  spirit  of  inspiration, 
instead  of  negativing  this  natural  disposition  of  these 
people  to  accept  a  system  of  appeals  as  common  law, 
indicated  the  perpetuation  of  that  same  system  in  the 
New  Testament  Church  by  directing  "  the  apostles  and 
elders  to  come  together  at  Jerusalem  about  this  ques- 
tion." The  decision  of  that  council  was  final,  and 
settled  for  all  time  the  principle  which  was  underlying 
that  subject  of  circumcision  (Acts  15:  23-29).  That 
case  also  settled  the  doctrine  that  in  the  Christian  Church 
the  part  is  subject  to  the  whole,  the  lower  courts  to 
the  higher,  and  each  part  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  whole. 

Presbyterians  are  those  who  believe  that  the  man- 
agement of  the  New  Testament  Church  is  in  the 
hands  of  representatives  of  the  people  called  pres- 
byters. They  hold  that  the  language  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  especially  of  this  15th  chapter  of  Acts, 
authorizes  this  method  of  the  management  of  a  large  dis- 
trict by  the  representatives  of  a  group  of  congregations. 
The  final  authority  over  the  whole  is  in  the  represen- 
tatives of  all  the  congregations.  This  method  of  church 
government  by  a  graded  system  of  church  assemblies, 
made  up  of  representatives  of  the  people  and  of  preach- 


32  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ers  of  the  Gospel,  is  not  supposed  to  be  so  exclusively 
scriptural  that  no  other  method  is  allowable,  but  it  is  held 
so  certainly  scriptural  that  it  is  to  be  greatly  preferred  as 
a  method  of  organizing  church  work.  Only  the  leading 
outlines  of  the  system  are  indicated  in  Scripture.  The 
minute  details  are  left  to  the  wisdom  of  church  officers 
and  people  under  the  superintendency  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  These  details  are  to  be  adapted  to  the  various 
conditions  of  age,  country,  and  church  work.  Very 
large  liberty  is  granted  for  the  aggressive  and  inventive 
genius  of  Christian  people  in  pushing  forward  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

Presbyterianism  is  primarily  a  system  of  church 
government,  and  is  not  specially  confined  to  any  one 
system  of  doctrine.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  special  rea- 
son why  Calvinists  more  than  others  should  be  Presby- 
terians in  their  form  of  government,  and  why  Armin- 
ians,  or  Unitarians,  or  Agnostics  for  that  matter,  should 
not  organize  themselves  upon  what  would  be  essentially 
the  Presbyterian  system.  Generally,  Presbyterians  are 
Calvinists,  but  n6t  necessarily  so.  They  hold  that 
the  office  of  elder  and  its  duties  are  determined  in  all 
its  leading  features  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  head  of  the 
Church,  and  revealed  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  in  the 
Scriptures.  The  part  that  the  people  have  to  do  is  to 
elect  by  their  votes  the  individual  member  of  the 
church  who  shall  administer  this  eldership.  The  duties 
of  a  sheriff  are  enacted  by  the  legislature  and  written 
in  the  law.  The  voters  of  the  county  simply  determine 
which  of  their  number  shall,  for  a  given  time,  discharge 
the  sheriff's  duties.  Like  the  duties  of  a  civil  sheriff, 
the  duties  of  the  elder  or  the  minister  go  right  on  the 
same,  though  there   may   be  frequent   changes    in   the 


BIBLICAL   PRESBYTERIANISM.  33 

persons  who  shall  exercise  the  authority  of  the  offices. 
It  is  not  to  be  supposed  because  the  church  members 
elect  the  pastor  or  the  elder,  that,  therefore,  they  have  a 
right  to  dictate  what  the  one  shall  preach  or  how  the 
other  shall  rule.  For  all  church  officers'  instructions 
arc  to  be  found  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  modern 
preacher,  as  much  as  the  ancient  prophet,  is  under  the 
command  :  "Preach  the  preaching  that  I  bid  thee." 

In  the  Pastoral  Epistles  and  elsewhere,  inspired  de- 
scriptions are  given  of  the  character  of  persons  that 
ought  to  be  selected  for  this  responsible  office,  and 
very  full  instruction  is  given  about  the  spirit  which  this 
elder  ought  to  maintain,  the  tenderness  which  he  should 
exhibit,  and  the  ends  at  which  he  should  aim  in  dis- 
charging his  duties.  Several  different  words  are  used 
in  the  Scriptures  which  all  Presbyterians  believe  indi- 
cate the  same  office.  Various  words  are  used  because 
different  duties  are  required  of  these  elders.  They  are 
enjoined  to  be  overseers  of  the  flock.  The  Greek 
word  for  overseer  is  Episcopos.  The  English  equiva- 
lent is  the  word  bishop.  The  minister  is  to  feed  the 
flock,  as  a  shepherd  provides  food  for  his  flock ;  and  so 
he  is  called  a  pastor.  He  is  to  be  the  messenger  of 
God  to  the  people,  and  so  John,  in  writing  to  the  Seven 
Churches  of  Asia,  addressed  their  pastor  as  the  angel 
of  this  or  that  church.  He  is  to  serve  the  people,  and 
so  he  is  called  their  minister.  He  is  to  serve  his  Mas- 
ter, even  Christ,  and  so  he  is  called  a  servant.  But  no 
distinction  is  made  in  the  New  Testament  between  the 
duties  of  a  bishop  and  those  of  the  ordinary  minister 
or  pastor.  No  distinction  is  indicated  in  regard  to 
any  difference  in  authority  among  the  elders  in  the  du- 
ties   of    ruling.      Presbyterians  hold   to  what  is  called 


34  PRESBYTERIANS. 

"the  parity  or  equality  of  the  ministry."  All  ministers 
are  of  equal  authority  except  as  some  of  them  may,  at 
various  times,  be  appointed  to  various  departments  of 
work.  To  all  these,  all  ministers  are  equally  eligible. 
Presbyterianism  is  thus  distinguished  from  Episcopacy 
on  the  one  hand,  and  Independency  or  Congregation- 
alism on  the  other.  In  Episcopal  churches,  such  as  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  Church  of  England,  or  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  this  country,  all  author- 
ity is  in  the  bishop.  There  are  no  representatives  of 
the  people  such  as  Presbyterian  elders  are.  In  the 
Independent  or  Congregational  church  the  minister  is 
a  church  member  just  as  all  the  other  members  are, 
and  the  power  of  admission,  trial,  and  exclusion  of 
church  members  belongs  equally  to  all  the  members  of 
the  congregation.  The  church  officers  are  simply  an 
executive  committee  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  congre- 
gation as  expressed  by  a  vote  in  regular  meeting.  Each 
congregation  is  entirely  independent  of  any  other,  and 
there  is  no  such  a  thing  as  an  appeal.  There  are  asso- 
ciations, but  these  are  of  individuals  rather  than  ol 
churches;  and  there  are  councils  called,  but  their  con- 
clusions are  simply  advice  which  the  individual  church 
may  follow  or  disregard.  Presbyterians  believe  that 
the  decision  of  the  council  at  Jerusalem  was  not  advice 
but  an  authoritative  determination  of  the  question.  It 
was  not  the  decision  of  all  the  church  members,  but  of 
the  elders  representing  the  various  churches.  Presby- 
terians thus  deny  the  right  of  bishops  to  arrogate  to 
themselves  the  entire  right  of  ordination,  as  if  some 
peculiar  virtue  was  transmitted  by  physical  contact 
through  "apostolic  succession"  down  to  the  modern 
church.     They  believe,  on  the  other  hand,  that  it  is  the 


BIBLICAL   PRESBYTERIANISM.  35 

order  of  God  that  certain  officers  should  be  chosen,  as 
recorded  of  deacons  in  the  6th  chapter  of  Acts,  and  set 
apart  for  certain  duties  pertaining  to  secular  affairs  and 
the  temporal  care  of  the  poor.  Others  are  set  apart  to 
the  spiritual  work  of  ruling,  as  are  the  elders,  and  others 
to  the  additional  work  of  instruction,  as  are  the  pastors. 
Pastors  are  cx-officio  members  with  the  elders  in  the 
congregational  session  and  preside  at  the  meetings 
thereof.  In  the  final  chapter  on  Pan-Presbyterianism, 
it  will  be  seen  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  Protestant 
Church  has  adopted  this  system  of  government.  It  is 
eminently  scriptural,  and  in  its  essence  was  used  in  the 
Old  Testament  Church  as  well  as  in  the  New.  Other 
Christians  may  prefer  another  method  of  government, 
if  they  are  themselves  satisfied  that  it  is  scriptural  ;  but 
Presbyterians  hold  a  strong  preference  for  their  own 
form  of  government,  as  they  believe  it  to  be  indisputa- 
bly scriptural,  admirably  practical,  eminently  efficient, 
and  equally  adapted  to  God's  government,  man's  obedi- 
ence, and  that  happy  combination  which  results  from 
divine  supervision,  heavenly  grace  and  human  activity 
in  a  working  church. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EUROPEAN   PRESBYTERIANISM    BEFORE,   DURING  AND  AFTER 
THE   REFORMATION. 


W 


HEN  Constantine  the  Great,  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, made  Christianity  the  state  religion  of  Rome, 
its  profession  was  a  help  to  preferment.  When,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  seventh  century,  Boniface  III.  secured 
supremacy  for  Rome  over  Constantinople,  church  of- 
fices, and  especially  the  Roman  Episcopate,  became 
temptations  to  ambition.  Through  the  subsequent 
centuries  spirituality  disappeared,  and  mechanical  re- 
ligion and  concentrated  authority  grew  to  be  almost 
irresistible.  As  Popish  domination,  assisted  by  diplo- 
macy and  persecution,  subjugated  everything  to  itself, 
it  met  here  and  there,  throughout  the  European  world, 
the  antagonism  of  those  who  by  preference  or  spirit- 
uality sought  to  read  the  Bible.  Christianity  entered 
England  during  its  occupation  by  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  when  the  Roman  army  retired,  about  450,  a  con- 
siderable Christian  population  was  left  among  the  na- 
tives on  the  island.  These  native  Kelts  were  too  weak 
to  resist  the  Picts  and  Scots,  and  so  called  in  the 
help  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  But  the  Anglo-Saxons 
came  to  conquer — not  to  help.  With  the  Saxon  con- 
quest, heathenism  came  again  and  Christianity  was 
pushed  back  into  Wales,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  Au- 
gustine, the;  Romish  priest,  came  over  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Anglo-Saxons  about  596.     As  Romanism 

3fi 


JOHN    KNOX. 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANISM.  37 

took  possession  of  tlu*  country  it  came  in  conflict  with 
the  earlier  Christianity  of  the  North  of  Britain  and  of 
Ireland.  Patrick,  as  a  saint,  is  a  Roman  Catholic.  1  lis- 
torical  Patrick  was  a  Scottish  Christian,  of  the  Presby- 
terian type,  who  called  himself  a  presbyter,  and  reports 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  bishops  and  three  thou- 
sand presbyters  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  Columbawas 
a  native  of  Ireland  who  missionated  in  Scotland  about 
the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  and  organized  the  Cul- 
dees,  with  their  headquarters  at  the  Island  of  Iona. 
These  Culdees  were  Presbyterians.  For  their  history 
consult  Jamison's  "Culdees"  and  Smith's  "Life  of 
Columba."  For  centuries  they  endured  fierce  persecu- 
tion from  the  Romish  priests,  while  sometimes  they 
had  public  debates  with  them.  When  in  the  eleventh 
century  King-  Malcolm  Canmore  married  Margaret,  the 
Saxon,  as  a  Romanist  she  urged  her  husband  to  bring 
these  Culdees  under  Catholic  domination.  In  his  at- 
tempt to  do  so  he  found  an  organized  church,  unable 
to  understand  Latin  (and  so  not  Romanists),  and  the 
king  was  compelled  to  act  as  interpreter  in  the  confer- 
ences between  the  queen's  clergy  and  the  Culdee  min- 
isters. The  sufferings  of  the  Culdees  went  on  through 
the  fourteenth  century,  when  the  Wyclifrites  in  Eng- 
land and  the  Lollards  on  the  Continent  began  to  share 
with  them  the  struggle  for  the  right  to  read  the  Bible, 
and  the  accompanying  persecutions.  Scotch  Culdee 
Christianity  was  not  killed  ;  it  was  simply  for  a  time 
buried  alive.  The  Scottish  Reformation  was  not,  like 
the  Reformation  on  the  Continent,  the  resurrection  of 
primitive  Christianity  from  the  dead.  It  was  the  revival 
of  smothered  piety  by  its  liberation  from  the  tomb. 
This    explains    the    vigor    of    Scotch     Presbyterianism 


38  PRESBYTERIANS. 

under  Wishart,  Knox,  and  their  followers,  amid  all 
sorts  of  suffering.  Both  sides  had  been  habituated  to 
persecution — the  Culdees  to  its  endurance  and  the 
Romanists  to  inflicting  it. 

England's  Luther  was  Wycliffe,  who  died  in  1384. 
His  translation  of  the  Bible  brought  on  him  the  perse- 
cution which  made  life  a  burden,  and  after  his  death 
secured  the  honors  of  burning  for  his  bones.  But 
neither  persecution  while  living,  nor  fire  after  he  was 
dead,  could  destroy  the  leaven  of  his  reforming  work. 
The  influence  of  that  work  reached  John  Huss  and 
Jerome  of  Prague  in  Bohemia,  and  brought  on  them 
martyrdom  by  the  council  of  Constance.  Out  of  their 
work  grew  the  Bohemian  Church,  which  fellowshiped 
with  the  Waldenses  previous  to  the  Reformation. 
Bohemian  representatives  now  sit  in  the  Pan-Pres- 
byterian Council. 

The  earlier  Waldenses  were  not  a  separate  church 
from  Rome  but  rather  an  Evangelical  church  inside  of 
the  Roman  Church.  They  received  a  powerful  revival  in 
the  accession  of  Peter  Waldo,  about  1 1  70,  and  because 
of  their  general  reading  of  the  Bible  and  their  permission 
to  both  men  and  women  to  speak  in  their  religious  as- 
semblies were  constantly  persecuted  by  the  Catholic 
authorities.  They  rejected  the  papal  hierarchy,  pur- 
gatory, the  mass  and  transubstantiation,  and  were  ex- 
communicated by  Lucius  III.  as  schismatics  and  heretics. 
When  they  heard  the  tidings  of  the  Reformation  they 
sent  a  deputation  to  the  Reformers  and  were  delighted  to 
find  their  agreement  with  them.  At  their  Synod  in  1532 
the  Reformation  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and 
the  Waldenses  became  then  and  still  remain  a  regular 
branch  of  the  Reformation  Church.     Since  the  unifica- 


EUROPEAN   PRESBYTERIANISM.  39 

tion  of  Italy  they  are  a  National  Presbyterian  church  of 
that  country. 

One  good  reason  for  the  want  of  success  in  these  pre- 
formation movements  was  the  lack  of  means  for  the 
widespread  circulation  of  their  doctrines.  The  invention 
of  printing  by  Koster,  Gutenberg,  Faust  and  Schoef- 
fer  about  1450,  made  it  possible  to  reform  the  Church 
and  enlighten  the  World.  Without  some  such  means  of 
multiplying  books  and  spreading  thought,  it  had  been 
a  hopeless  task.  When  Faust  came  to  Paris  to  sell  his 
printed  Bibles,  copies  of  the  written  Scriptures  were  sold 
for  five  hundred  crowns  ;  and  he  sold  his  first  printed 
edition  at  that  price.  The  next  edition  he  sold  at  first 
for  sixty  crowns.  His  price  soon  fell  to  thirty,  and  he 
produced  copies  as  fast  as  they  were  wanted.  With  an 
incomprehensible  want  of  logic  his  work  was  charged  to 
the  activity  of  Satan,  as  if  the  Devil  published  Bibles. 
People  now  can  hardly  understand  the  excitement  then 
created  by  printed  books.  Printing  was  more  wonder- 
ful then  than  the  telephone  is  now,  or  the  daguerrotype 
and  telegraph  were  fifty  years  ago.  To  the  natural 
appetite  for  learning,  printed  books  added  also  this  ex- 
aggerated appetite  for  a  marvelous  curiosity.  William 
Caxton  printed  the  first  book  in  England  in  1474,  and 
Tyndale's  translation  of  the  Bible  was  executed  in 
Worms  in  1525,  and  reached  England  in  1526.  In  the 
midst  of  the  intellectual  public,  thus  startled  by  the  re- 
vival of  learning  and  the  invention  of  printing,  came 
two  great  events,  and  a  group  of  marvelous  men,  provi- 
dentially fitted  for  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. 

When,  on  the  31st  of  October,  1 5 1  7,  Luther  nailed  to 
the  church  door  in  Wittenberg  his  ninety-five  "  Theses," 


40  PRESBYTERIANS. 

or  plain  propositions  on  religion,  aggressive  work  in  the 
Reformation  was  begun.  America  had  been  discovered 
but  twenty-five  years  before.  The  wealth  of  the  New 
World  was  the  hope  of  the  indolent.  Its  adventures 
were  the  ambition  of  explorers.  Its  conversion  was  the 
dream  of  pious  enthusiasts.  At  this  same  date,  15 17, 
three  young  rulers  were  just  beginning  their  careers. 
Charles  V.,  of  Germany,  was  only  seventeen,  but  had 
been  King  of  Spain  one  year,  and  two  years  later  be- 
came Emperor  of  Germany.  Francis  I.,  of  France,  was 
twenty-three.  Henry  VIII.,  of  England,  was  twenty- 
six.  All  three  of  these  were  to  reign  through  the  next 
twenty  years,  envying,  fighting  and  befriending  each 
other  as  interest  dictated.  At  this  date,  15 17,  Luther 
himself  was  but  thirty-four.  John  Knox  was  a  boy  of 
eleven,  and  John  Calvin  was  a  lad  of  eight.  These 
last  three  were  to  be  men  of  writing  and  publishing  as 
well  as  of  speech  and  action.  They  and  their  co-lab- 
orers spread  books  and  Bibles  and  education  every- 
where. 

The  Reformation  was  simply  a  revival  of  religion  by 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  Church  at 
large,  at  a  time  when  providences  were  fully  ripe  ;  and 
the  history  of  that  movement  in  various  countries  is  a 
clear  demonstration  of  the  value  of  competent  leader- 
ship, as  well  as  of  great  learning  and  heroic  endurance. 
In  Germany,  Luther's  Theses,  like  all  his  subsequent  ut- 
terances, were  about  doctrine  and  not  about  church 
organization.  But  every  religion  must  have  both  its 
doctrine  and  its  form  of  crovernment.  Luther's  work 
was  destructive  to  Roman  theology  and  constructive  of 
Christian  belief,  but  he  had  no  special  form  of  church 
government  to  substitute  for  Romish  Episcopacy.    The 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANISM.  41 

German  Church,  therefore,  took  on  the  form  of  a  church 
managed  by  the  civil  authorities  in  the  various  German 
provinces.  The  princes  and  electors  so  generally  fol- 
lowed the  advice  of  the  ministers  and  lay-representa- 
tives, that  the  Lutheran  Church  of  Germany  in 
subsequent  times  came  very  close  in  its  actual  govern- 
ment to  the  Presbyterian  system.  In  America  the 
Lutheran  Church  is  essentially  Presbyterian  in  its  gov- 
ernment. 

The  leader  of  the  French  Reformation  was  a  French- 
man by  birth,  but  was  driven  out  of  France  for  religion's 
sake,  and  settled  near  its  southeastern  border  at  Geneva. 
John  Calvin  was  not  only  a  leader  in  the  matter  of  theo- 
logical reconstruction,  but  equally  a  leader  in  the  matter 
of  church  organization.  His  quiet  retreat  at  Geneva 
came  to  be  a  refuge  for  the  persecuted  from  almost  all 
other  countries.  French  Huguenots  sought  his  counsel 
and  followed  his  system  of  government.  English  refu- 
gees studied  under  his  instruction  and  organized  their 
church  by  his  plans,  so  clearly  did  he  support  his  theo- 
ries by  the  Scripture.  John  Knox  got  his  system  of 
church  government  where  Calvin  got  his,  from  the 
Greek  Testament  ;  and  both  were  delighted  at  the  har- 
mony. Holland  was  not  far  from  Geneva,  and  the 
Dutch  counseled  with  Calvin  and  were  convinced  by 
his  instructions  and  Scripture  citations.  Calvin's  "  Insti- 
tutes" were  first  written  "that  inquirers  might  be  in- 
structed in  the  nature  of  true  piety."  The  work  was 
finally  dedicated  and  presented  to  Francis  I.  as  a  de- 
fense of  the  Reformed  Doctrine  and  Church  against 
their  slanderers  and  persecutors.  Calvin  was  a  born 
leader,  and  he  has  not  been  surpassed  in  logical  coher- 
ence and  scriptural  argument   by  any  among  either  his 


42  PRESBYTERIANS. 

foes  or  his  followers.  He  sought  to  make  the  repub- 
lican civil  government  of  Geneva  as  scriptural  as  he 
made  his  scheme  of  church  government. 

Through  the  sixteenth  century  a  few  adventurers  were 
settling  in  America,  and  stable  institutions  came  with  the 
seventeenth  to  attract  the  attention  of  European  Prot- 
estants as  they  searched  for  some  refuge  from  the  per- 
secuting power  which  they  could  not  resist  in  France, 
could  not  fight  in  Spain,  played  see-saw  with  in  England, 
overthrew  in  Germany,  and  displaced  in  Holland  and 
Scotland.  If  there  had  been  no  persecution  in  Europe, 
and  the  Protestant  Church  could  have  had  freedom 
from  state  interference  to  fight  its  own  battle  before  the 
general  reason  and  conscience,  the  emigrants  to  Amer- 
ica would  perhaps  have  been  more  like  the  first  settlers 
in  California,  or  the  first  inhabitants  in  a  new  oil  town. 
As  it  was,  the  intellectual  conflict  and  the  physical 
struggle  came  on  together  and  intensified  each  other. 
Huguenot  Synods  were  held  in  France,  and  then  sup- 
pressed, and  then  re-allowed.  The  first  regularly  or- 
ganized church  was  that  of  Paris,  whose  people  elected 
John  le  Macon  pastor,  and  had  a  board  of  elders  and 
deacons,  in  1555.  In  1559  the  first  National  Synod  was 
held,  and  according  to  Calvin's  advice  a  regular  system 
of  Appellate  Courts  was  organized.  In  September, 
1 56 1,  Theodore  Beza  at  the  head  of  twelve  Protestant 
ministers  made  their  plea  before  royalty.  It  was  claimed 
that  there  were  then  more  than  two  thousand  churches 
and  stations.  The  origin  of  the  name  "  Huguenot  "  is 
not  known,  but  it  is  believed  to  have  been  at  first  a 
nickname  which  grew  to  honor  by  the  character  and 
conduct  of  its  wearers.  They  had  a  stormy  history. 
Francis  I,  was  their  enemy.     Charles   IX.    (an  effemi- 


EUROPEAN   PRESBYTERIANISM.  43 

nate  boy  in  the  hand  of  the  Medicis)  massacred  them 
at  St.  Bartholomew.  Henry  IV.,  at  heart  a  Huguenot, 
was  a  brave  soldier  and  a  brilliant  man,  but  he  turned 
Catholic  for  policy's  sake,  and  yet  protected  the  Hu- 
guenots by  issuing  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Then  followed 
Louis  XIII.  and  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIV.  and  the 
revocation  of  that  edict  of  toleration  in  1685.  These 
last  events  came  in  the  seventeenth  century.  The'six- 
teenth  century  had  demonstrated  the  advantage  of  Prot- 
estant emigration,  and  the  seventeenth  century  made 
it  compulsory. 

In  Holland  the  struggle  was  between  Protestantism 
and  Phillip  II.  of  Spain.  These  were  the  days  of  the 
Duke  of  Alva  and  William  the  Silent.  To  save  their 
religion  and  their  homes  and  drive  out  the  Spaniards, 
the  Dutch  cut  the  dykes  and  submerged  their  farms 
beneath  the  sea.  But  through  all  this  suffering  they 
were  organizing  a  people  and  defending  a  country  that 
should,  in  time,  give  to  the  world  the  Protestant  and 
Presbyterian  results  of  the  Synod  of  Dort.  That  Synod 
was  the  nearest  to  an  interdenominational  and  ecumen- 
ical Synod  of  any  held  for  the  forming  of  Reformation 
creeds.  It  was  called  to  decide  the  controversy  be- 
tween Arminianism  and  Calvinism  ;  but  the  selection 
of  the  members  made  it  a  foregone  conclusion  that  it 
would  condemn  Arminius  and  support  the  doctrine  of 
Calvin.  As  a  result  the  "Canons  of  Dort"  are  ac- 
cepted everywhere  as  good  Augustinian  theology,  and 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  America,  both  in  the 
earliest  time  and  in  the  modern,  is  thoroughly  and 
soundly  Presbyterian.  The  early  Dutch  immigrants  to 
this  country  brought  with  them  their  names  of  Consis- 
tory, Classis  and  Synod,  with  both  ministerial  and  lay 


44  PRESBYTERIANS. 

delegates,  and  between  them  and  the  Presbyterians 
there  have  never  been  any  controversies  in  either  the- 
ology or  church  government. 

But  the  main  center  of  American  interest  in  European 
Presbyterians  is  found  in  England.  Henry  VIII.  had 
married  his  brother's  widow,  Catherine  of  Aragon. 
She  was  a  kinswoman  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  and  Philip 
and'  his  nation  were  close  friends  of  the  Pope.  When, 
then,  the  fickle,  handsome,  headstrong,  and  licentious 
Henry  wanted  to  divorce  Catherine  and  marry  Anne 
Boleyn,  he  easily  found  his  English  bishops  and  uni- 
versities ready  to  declare  his  marriage  to  his  brother's 
widow  unlawful,  but  he  found  it  very  difficult,  for  polit- 
ical reasons,  to  get  the  Pope  so  to  declare  against  that 
marriage  that  he  might  thereafter  have  a  non-Catholic 
wife,  and  that  Mary,  his  daughter  by  Catherine,  should 
be  an  illegitimate  child.  Henry  cut  the  knot  by  declar- 
ing himself  the  head  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
English  Church  in  no  possible  way  subject  to  Rome. 
During  all  this  time  Protestant  doctrines  were  spread- 
ing among  the  people,  and  this  seemed  to  open  an  easy 
solution.  But  pure  religion  in  England  was  not  what 
Henry  wanted.  He  and  all  the  Tudors  wanted  to 
have  their  own  way,  without  interference  from  parlia- 
ment or  the  Church  or  the  people.  After  the  birth  of 
Elizabeth,  Anne  Boleyn  was  beheaded  to  make  way  for 
the  third  of  Henry's  six  wives.  The  king  had  now  two 
female  children,  one  a  Romanist  and  the  other  a  Prot- 
estant. When  he  died,  in  1547,  he  left  Edward  VI.,  by 
Jane  Seymour,  only  nine  years  old,  but  an  astonishingly 
precocious  Protestant  king.  Under  Edward  the  effort 
to  reform  the  Church  went  on  vigorously,  but  everybody 
was  debating,  as  the  chief  point  of  controversy,  "  What 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANISM.  45 

is  the  scriptural  form  of  government?"  John  Knox 
had  been  a  private  tutor  for  Hugh  Douglas  of  Long- 
niddry.  The  excitement  occasioned  by  the  martyrdom 
of  Hamilton  and  Wishart  turned  his  attention  to  Prot- 
estantism. St.  Andrews  is  a  picturesque  city,  rich  in 
traditions  from  the  Culdce  period.  At  the  call  of  the 
congregation  of  that  city,  Knox  began  preaching. 
With  the  capture  of  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews,  Knox 
was  sent  a  prisoner  to  the  French  galleys.  After  his 
release  he,  at  one  time,  became  Court  preacher  for 
Edward  VI. 

Romanism,  Episcopacy,  Presbyterianism,  and  Inde- 
pendency were  now  up  for  discussion.  The  contro- 
versy between  Protestantism  and  Catholicism,  under 
Bloody  Mary,  made  all  England  a  charnel  house. 
Mary  was  a  Tudor  and  a  Spaniard  and  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic ;  and  the  task  of  bringing  back  the  British  Islands 
under  the  control  of  the  Pope  of  Rome  was  the  one  re- 
ligious ambition  of  her  life.  How  far  her  relentless 
persecutions  were  made  more  relentless  by  the  sadness 
of  her  natural  disposition,  the  want  of  an  heir  to  the 
throne  by  her  Spanish  husband,  her  residence  in  Eng- 
land while  her  alienated  husband  lived  in  Spain,  and 
her  final  loss  of  Calais,  that  last  remnant  of  English 
territory  on  the  Continent,  may  be  hard  to  decide  ;  but 
her  persecutions  filled  Geneva,  and  all  European  Prot- 
estant cities,  with  English  refugees  and  raised  every- 
where the  question  of  some  land  where  Protestants 
could  have  freedom.  Just  as  she  was  moving,  appar- 
ently, toward  the  destruction  of  her  Protestant  sister 
Elizabeth,  Mary  died. 

This  brought  Elizabeth  to  the  throne  for  that  long, 
illustrious     and     perplexed     reign.        Philip    of     Spain, 


46  PRESBYTERIANS. 

while  he  lived,  was  always  ready  to  assert  his  claim  to 
the  throne  in  Mary's  behalf  and  in  behalf  of  Conti- 
nental Catholicism.  English  Roman  Catholics  were 
always  plotting  to  bring  the  Catholic  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  to  the  throne  as  the  successor  of  Elizabeth.  The 
English  Commons  were  always  insisting  to  Elizabeth 
that  she  ought  to  marry  in  order  to  perpetuate  stable 
government,  and  Elizabeth  herself  was  always  strug- 
gling to  promote  her  favorites,  encourage  literature, 
extend  commerce  and,  for  some  incomprehensible 
reason,  avoid  taking  a  husband.  Elizabeth's  prin- 
ciples made  her  position  difficult,  and  her  course 
oftentimes  was  apparently  contradictory.  She  did 
not  burn  Catholics  or  Puritans,  but  she  humiliated 
and  degraded  both.  By  the  assassination  of  Wil- 
liam the  Silent  at  the  instigation  of  Philip  of  Spain, 
and  by  the  constant  conspiracies  in  behalf  of  the  Cath- 
olic beauty  of  Scotland,  Elizabeth  was  taught  the 
bloody  hostility  of  her  enemies.  So  for  state  policy 
she  signed  the  death  warrant  of  Mary,  not  for  her  own 
sins,  but  for  the  sins  of  treason  to  which  her  life  and  re- 
ligion were  a  constant  temptation.  As  a  mode  of  pro- 
pitiating her  own  conscience  and  diverting  public  odium, 
Elizabeth  punished  Davison,  her  secretary,  for  his 
handling  of  the  death  warrant.  She  dressed  herself  in 
mourning  to  receive  the  French  ambassador's  announce- 
ment of  the  massacre  of  Coligny  and  the  Huguenots. 
With  military  equipment  she  mounted  her  horse  to 
face  Philip's  Spanish  Armada,  sent  to  avenge  the  death 
of  Mary  in  Fotheringay  Castle. 

The  first  Presbytery  of  English  Puritans  was  held  at 
Wandsworth,  November  20,  1572,  the  same  year  as  the 
Bartholomew  massacre.      Its  oroanizer,  and  the  leader 


EUROPEAN   PRESBYTERIANISM.  47 

of  early  Presbyterianism  in  England,  was  Rev.  Thomas 
Cartwright,  a  professor  of  Divinity  in  Cambridge.  In 
the  appendix  of  Briggs's  "  American  Presbyterianism," 
there  is  given  a  "  Directory  of  Church  Government" 
practiced  by  the  first  nonconformists  in  the  days  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  called  "  Cartwright's  Book  of  Disci- 
pline." In  due  course  of  time  Presbyterianism  came  to 
be  quite  powerfully  organized  in  the  vicinity  of  London, 
even  in  Elizabeth's  day,  but  it  was  rather  as  a  church 
inside  of  the  state  church.  Elizabeth  closed  her  reign 
with  an  effort  to  settle  America  ;  and  Virginia  takes  its 
name  from  the  Virgin  Queen.  She  was  a  vigorous, 
skillful,  moderately  unscrupulous  woman,  and  her  court, 
at  the  last,  was  a  center  of  flattery,  monopoly  and  bad 
morals. 

When  she  died,  James  VI.  of  Scotland  ascended  the 
throne  as  James  I.  of  England.  His  mother,  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  had  been  thwarted  by  the  Presbyterians 
of  Scotland,  and  James  himself  had  been  in  perpetual 
conflict  with  them.  He  came  to  the  throne  of  England 
a  natural  despot,  confident  of  his  ability,  intellectually 
and  physically,  to  carry  out  his  own  will.  He  was  a 
scholarly,  skillful,  profane,  drunken  fool.  On  the  way 
from  Edinburgh  to  London  he  received  the  Millenary 
Petition,  asking  relief  for  the  Puritans,  and  held  a  con- 
ference, under  his  own  presiding,  between  the  friends  of 
High  Church  Episcopacy  and  the  representatives  of 
free  Protestantism.  The  High  Church  pretensions 
and  flattery  completely  carried  the  day  with  his  egotism  ; 
and  the  only  outcome  was  his  agreement  to  the  sug- 
gestion of  Reynolds,  of  Oxford,  spokesman  in  behalf  of 
the  Puritans,  that  there  should  be  a  new  and  better 
translation  of  the  English  Bible.     That  gave  us  King 


48  PRESBYTERIANS. 

James's  Version.  When  he  was  seated  on  the  throne, 
not  only  was  drunkenness  common  among  men,  but 
among  women  also.  At  one  of  the  Court  revels,  three 
ladies  of  the  highest  rank  took  on  them  to  enact  the 
Christian  graces,  but  Faith  and  Hope  were  so  hopelessly 
drunk  that  they  could  not  stand,  and  Charity  fell  into 
the  king's  arms  helpless.  In  1618  he  published  a  book 
of  sports  "  to  encourage  recreation  and  sports  on  the 
Lord's  day."  His  theory  was  "no  bishop,  no  king." 
Throughout  his  reign,  therefore,  while  resisting  popery, 
he  sought  only  to  make  himself  pope  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  England,  and  that  Episcopal  Church  the 
only  Church  in  the  three  kingdoms.  He  said  that 
"presbytery  agreeth  with  a  monarchy  as  well  as  God 
with  the  devil.  Then  they  will  meet,  and  at  their 
pleasure  censure  me  and  my  council."  One  skill- 
ful thing  in  state  policy  James  did  early  in  his  reign. 
The  earls  of  Tyrone  and  Tyrconnel,  in  the  North  of 
Ireland,  in  the  interest  of  themselves  and  Roman 
Catholicism,  fearing  the  Protestantism  of  a  Scotch 
king,  had  taken  steps  toward  a  rebellion.  This  they 
soon  found  would  prove  unsuccessful,  and  so  they  took 
to  flight  with  many  of  their  followers.  James  had  their 
estates  forfeited  to  the  crown,  as  well  as  the  estates  of 
those  that  were  suspected  of  sympathizing  with  them. 
In  this  way  he  gained  control  of  the  whole  section  of 
the  North  of  Ireland  known  as  Ulster.  By  the  crea- 
tion of  baronetcies,  he  farmed  out  that  Ulster  region  to 
the  English,  but  especially  the  Scotch  peasantry.  Hop- 
ing to  escape  religious  conflicts  in  their  own  country, 
great  numbers  of  Scotch  Presbyterians  accepted  this 
chance,  and  so  this  "planting  of  Ulster"  with  Scotch 
Presbyterians  was  the  construction  of  that  fertile  hive 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANISM.  49 

from  which  the  modern    Irish  Church  and   the   Scotch- 
Irish  Presbyterians  of  America  have  swarmed. 

James  died  in  1625  and  left  all  his  British  dominions 
in  a  state  of  religious  ferment  to  his  unfortunate  son, 
Charles  I.  Charles  inherited  the  self-sufficiency  of  the 
Tudors  through  his  mother,  and  the  blind  egotism  of 
the  Stuarts  through  his  father,  and  illustrated  in  himself 
the  vices  of  both.  He  early  fell  under  the  influence  of 
William  Laud,  and  finally  made  Laud  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  so  Primate  of  all  England.  James  I.,  in 
his  very  earliest  intercourse  with  the  English  Parliament, 
intimated  that  the  duty  of  Parliament  was  to  register  his 
will,  and  was  told  by  Parliament  that  the  rights  of  the 
people  represented  therein  were  quite  as  sacred  as  the 
rights  of  the  king.  Charles  followed  his  father's  policy, 
only  pushing  it  to  the  extent  of  undertaking  to  do  with- 
out any  Parliament  whatever.  Archbishop  Laud  was 
essentially  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  with  this  dictatorial- 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  king  in  civil  matters,  and  Laud's 
dictatorialness  in  religious  matters,  affairs  swiftly  came 
to  a  struggle  for  life,  The  people  would  not  pay  taxes 
which  Parliament  had  not  voted.  Parliament  would  not 
vote  supplies  for  the  king  until  he  had  redressed  their 
grievances.  The  king  insisted  "supplies  first  and  re- 
dress afterward."  The  lines  were  soon  drawn  through- 
out  the  kingdom.  One  Parliament  would  be  dissolved 
and  another  elected,  until  in  the  struggle  the  people 
grew  weary  of  Episcopacy  and  finally  elected  the  Long 
Parliament.  It  originally  had  in  it  a  majority  favorable 
to  Presbyterianism  as  against  Episcopacy.  It  was  the 
project  of  that  Parliament  to  call  in  Westminster  an  As- 
sembly "  for  settling  the  government  and  liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  for  vindicating  and  clearing  of 


5<D  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  doctrines  of  said  Church  from  false  aspersions  and 
interpretations  as  should  be  found  most  agreeable  to  the 
Word  of  God,  and  most  apt  to  procure  and  preserve  the 
peace  of  the  Church  at  home  and  near  agreement  with 
the  Church  of  Scotland  and  other  reformed  churches 
abroad."'  This  ordinance  was  entered  at  full  length 
on  the  journals  of  the  House  of  Lords,  June  12, 
1643.  King  Charles,  two  days  before  the  meeting,  pro- 
hibited by  royal  proclamation  the  Assembly  to  proceed 
under  the  bill.  He  had  already  revived  the  "  Book  of 
Sports,"  and  otherwise  outraged  the  moral  sentiments  of 
his  people.  Under  the  influence  of  Laud,  he  had  un- 
dertaken to  re-establish  Episcopacy  in  Scotland,  and  on 
the  23d  of  July,  1637,  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews 
and  the  Bishop  of  Edinburgh  assembled  an  audience 
in  St.  Giles'  Church  to  introduce  the  new  liturgy. 
When  the  famous  Jennie  Geddes  started  the  riot  that 
day,  by  throwing  her  stool  at  the  reader,  Scotland  had 
already  organized  its  form  of  church  government  and 
was  anxious  for  a  common  system  with  England.  The 
English  Parliament  had  invited  the  Assembly  of  Scot- 
land to  send  delegates  to  this  Westminster  Assembly 
and  Commissioners  appeared,  at  the  head  of  whom  was 
the  notable  Alexander  Henderson.  In  this  Westmin- 
ster Assembly,  sitting  in  defiance  of  the  king,  were  thus 
gathered  the  chief  representatives  of  the  British  Pres- 
byterians. Close  correspondence  was  maintained  with 
the  Reformed  Church  on  the  Continent.  While  the 
Long  Parliament  was  in  session  in  their  House,  this 
Assembly  was  in  session  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  of 
Westminster  Abbey.  The  first  meeting  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly  was  held  Saturday,  July  1,  1643  ;  its 
last  numbered  meeting  was  held  on   the   2 2d  of  Feb- 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANrSM.  51 

ruary,  1649,  and  is  marked  "  Session  1163."  One  hun- 
dred and  twenty  ministers,  ten  lords  and  twenty 
commoners  were  chosen  to  membership  in  it  by  Parlia- 
ment. Of  those  thus  elected  many  declined,  but  at  dif- 
ferent times  ninety-six  of  them  sat  as  members.  Two 
months  after  it  first  met  the  commissioners  from  Scot- 
land, four  ministers  and  two  laymen,  took  seats  without 
the  right  to  vote.  On  December  6,  1648,  Parliament 
was  purged  of  its  Presbyterian  membership  to  the  num- 
ber of  140  and  the  constitution  of  England  virtually 
overthrown  by  Cromwell  and  the  army.  The  Assembly 
was  never  officially  dissolved.  Its  power  waned  with 
Parliament,  and  so  vanished.  The  last  pretense  of  a 
meeting  was  on. March  25,  1652. 

The  story  of  that  Assembly  is  too  long  for  these 
pages.  Presbyterianism  was  legally  established  as  the 
state  religion  of  England  by  Act  of  Parliament  June 
29,  1647.  Before  it  was  really  set  up  further  proceed- 
ings in  that  direction  were  stopped  by  Lord  Protector 
Cromwell.  In  1649  Charles  was  beheaded  by  the 
authority  of  the  Rump  Parliament,  and  finally  all  parlia- 
mentary government  was  destroyed.  The  tidal  wave  to- 
ward Independency,  which  rose  at  the  time  of  Cromwell, 
began  to  get  ready  for  its  return  as  the  English  people 
saw  the  Lord  Protector's  soldiers  dispersing  Parlia- 
ment. Cromwell  was  as  much  opposed  to  Presbyte- 
rianism as  to  Episcopacy.  His  Latin  secretary,  the  poet 
John  Milton,  expressed  precisely  Cromwell's  sentiments 
when  he  said  that  "  Presbyter  was  only  Priest  writ 
large."  The  English  nation,  however,  soon  found  out 
that  Cromwell,  while  he  was  pious  and  honest,  was  also 
a  dictator,  and  had  at  his  back  a  thoroughly  disciplined 
army.      Under  him  the   nation    was  quiet  and  orderly 


52  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  voiceless  at  home  and  powerful  abroad.  The  navy 
swept  the  seas  clear  of  competitors  ;  and  a  shake  of  the 
head,  concerning  the  persecution  of  the  Waldensians,  in 
the  spirit  of  that  magnificent  poem  of  his  secretary, 
"  Avenge,  O  Lord,  thy  slaughtered  saints,"  made  even 
the  Duke  of  Savoy  and  Louis  XIV.  call  home  from 
the  Alps  their  relentless  bloodhounds,  and  the  Pope 
cringe  in  his  palace.  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  absolutist, 
died  in  1658  and  left  no  successor.  Social  chaos  came  at 
once  when  his  son  Richard  tried  to  fill  his  father's  chair. 
In  1660  General  Monk  forestalled  the  movement  for  a 
parliamentary  contract  with  royalty  by  calling  Charles 
II.  back  to  England  and  by  the  army  putting  him  on 
the  throne.  Charles  came,  a  thorough-going  Stuart, 
without  having  learned  any  wisdom  from  the  experience 
of  his  father.  His  return  sent  the  Puritans  into  retire- 
ment and  brought  the  rollicking  Cavaliers  all  to  the 
front.  Amusement  ran  riot  over  England.  The  bishops 
immediately  found  that  their  success  needed  that 
they  should  keep  still  and  flatter  Charles.  The  Pres- 
byterians yielded  in  quiet,  in  the  hope  that  the  Savoy 
Conference  to  adjust  religious  matters,  held  in  1661, 
would  secure  religious  toleration.  Instead  of  that  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  came  in  1662,  and  two  thousand  non- 
conformist ministers  left  their  charges  and  their  worldly 
support,  rather  than  violate  their  consciences.  All  this 
tended  to  increase  the  emigration  out  of  England  and 
into  America.  By  this  time  moderate  quiet  could  be 
found  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Settlements  had 
been  made  at  Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  in  1607;  at 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  1620;  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson 
in  1 62 1,  New  Hampshire  was  settled  in  1623,  Maryland 
in  1634,  New  Jersey  in  1664,  and  South  Carolina  in  1670. 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANISM.  53 

In  1685  Louis  XIV.  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
scattering  half  a  million  Huguenots  all  over  the  Protes- 
tant  world.  That  same  year  Charles  II.  died,  and 
James  II.,  his  brother,  a  thorough-paced  Roman  Cath- 
olic, came  to  the  English  throne.  Persecution  was  now 
the  lot  of  Protestants  everywhere.  Lord  Jeffries  played 
the  Judge,  and  Claverhouse  executed  on  all  sexes  and 
ages,  in  England  and  in  Scotland,  the  orders  of  the 
"  Bloody  Assizes."  It  took  this  process  no  long  time 
to  set  the  eyes  of  Protestant  England  hunting  every- 
where, either  for  a  refuge  or  for  some  legitimate  king 
to  head  a  revolution  against  this  degenerate  Stuart 
dynasty.  It  was  not  a  distant  hunt.  William  of  Or- 
ange, the  worthy  descendant  of  William  the  Silent,  heir 
both  to  his  ability  and  his  Protestantism,  had  married 
his  own  cousin  Mary,  elder  daughter  of  this  same  James 
II.  Applications  from  all  sides  were  sent  to  him  to 
come  and  accept  the  English  throne.  This  culminated 
in  what  is  known  as  the  "  Glorious  Revolution  of  1688." 
A  Protestant  Parliament  declared  James's  flight  to  con- 
stitute abdication,  and  settled  the  crown  on  William 
and  Mary  and  their  descendants.  Religious  liberty  has 
since  then  prevailed  in  England  under  the  Act  of  Tol- 
eration. A  Catholic  rising  in  Ireland  in  behalf  of 
James  II.  was  suppressed  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne. 
The  temper  of  the  Irish  Protestants  at  that  time  was 
displayed,  and  their  endurance  tested,  in  the  siege  of 
Londonderry. 

In  Scotland  the  Presbyterian  Church  had  an  organ- 
ization anterior  to  that  of  England,  and  being  blessed 
with  competent  and  uncompromising  leaders,  was  able 
to  maintain  the  contest  and  finally  to  win  the  victory. 
The  organization  in  Scotland  began  with  the  Assemblies 


54  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  descended  to  the  Presbyteries,  much  as  in  France. 
In  England  and  America  it  began  with  the  Presbyteries 
and  grew  into  Synods  and  Assemblies.  The  first  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
was  held  December  20,  1 560.  It  consisted  of  forty  mem- 
bers, only  six  of  whom  were  ministers.  Instead  of  then 
organizing  the  Presbyteries,  the  Assembly  appointed 
Superintendents  of  districts  with  nearly  the  power  of 
bishops.  This  continued  for  twenty  years,  namely 
until  1 580.  The  preceding  year  the  Assembly  had  gone 
so  far  toward  the  erection  of  Presbyteries  that  they  had 
declared  that  the  "  Weekly  meeting  of  ministers  and 
elders  might  be  judged  a  Presbytery."  Further  con- 
sideration of  the  same  subject  was  had  in  1580,  and  the 
Assembly  held  in  1581,  at  Glasgow,  passed  an  act  erect- 
ing at  once  thirteen  Presbyteries,  and  recommended  the 
speedy  extension  of  the  system  throughout  the  king- 
dom. Again  and  again  was  the  effort  made  to  sup- 
press these  National  Assemblies.  King  James,  in  1618, 
by  his  representative,  Spotswood,  forced  the  Assemblies 
to  accept  the  "  Five  Articles  of  Perth."  These  were  : 
"  kneeling  at  communion — the  observance  of  holidays 
—Episcopal  confirmation— private  baptism  and  the 
private  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper."  This 
was  the  suppression  of  Presbyterianism  and  the  forcible 
introduction  of  prelacy.  The  conflict  was  kept  up  until, 
by  and  by,  the  Assembly  resumed  its  sessions  without 
authority  from  the  government.  In  1653,  at  Edinburgh, 
Cromwell  sent  Colonel  Cottrel  of  his  army  to  repeat 
his  English  methods,  and  the  Assembly  was  ordered  to 
leave  the  house  and  depart  to  their  own  homes.  Even 
in  1692  King  William  signified  his  desire  that  Episco- 
palians should  be  admitted  to  sit  in   the   church  judi- 


EUROPEAN   PRESBYTERIANISH.  55 

catories.  When  the  Assembly  refused  assent,  the  royal 
commissioner,  in  his  Majesty's  name,  declared  the  As- 
sembly dissolved.  Final  peace  was  reached  only  by  the 
Act  of  Security  in  1 706,  as  part  of  the  parliamentary 
union  of  Scotland  and  England  under  Queen  Anne,. 
This  was  the  same  year  as  the  organization  of  the  first 
Presbytery  in  America.  The  "  Act  of  Security  "  con- 
firmed "  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Presbyterian 
form  of  church  government  as  ratified  and  established 
to  continue  without  any  alteration  by  the  people  of  this 
land  in  all  succeeding  generations ;  and  this  as  a  fun- 
damental and  essential  condition  of  every  treaty  of 
union  between  the  two  kingdoms." 

The  history  of  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland  is  also  its 
history  in  Ireland  ;  for  the  first  Presbytery  in  Ireland 
was  organized  in  1642  by  Scotch  chaplains  accompany- 
ing the  army  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  of  that 
date.  Large  numbers  of  Presbyterian  ministers  and 
soldiers  remained,  and  mixed  with  the  Presbyterian 
people  that  had  come  into  the  North  of  Ireland  at  the 
"  Plantation  of  Ulster."  While  the  Presbyterian  bodies 
in  Ireland  and  Scotland  were  not  organically  united,  yet 
their  history  has  been  in  the  main  similar,  with  similar 
struggles  and  similar  triumphs. 

Immediately  on  the  dissolution  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  "  The  Standards  "  adopted  by  that  body  were 
adopted  by  the  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Scotland  and 
Ireland.  The  Presbyterian  system  was  suppressed 
almost  as  soon  as  set  up  in  England,  but  the  Westmin- 
ster Standards  have  remained  in  Europe  and  in  America 
without  change  in  their  essential  features  until  the  pres- 
ent time.  These  Westminster  Standards  consist  of  six 
books  :    The  Confession  of  Faith,  theLarger  Catechism, 


56  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  Shorter  Catechism,  the  Form  of  Government,  the 
Directory  for  Worship,  and  the  Book  of  Discipline. 
The  first  three  are  doctrinal,  and  the  last  three  are  for 
government  and  worship.  As  King  James's  translators, 
in  their  work  of  rendering  the  Bible  into  English,  had 
the  advantage  of  all  the  labors  and  all  the  criticisms  of 
previous  translators  and  all  the  arguments  in  the  defense 
of  those  translations  ;  so  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
being  one  of  the  last  of  the  Reformed  Assemblies  to 
formulate  doctrine  and  government,  had  the  aid  of  all 
the  preceding  work  of  other  Assemblies  as  well  as  the 
help  of  the  criticisms  of  their  enemies  and  the  apologies 
of  their  friends.  Whatever  estimate  may  be  put  upon 
any  of  the  individual  men  composing  that  Westminster 
Assembly,  no  set  of  documents  have  had  so  wide  an  in- 
fluence, and  such  an  uninterrupted  acceptance  and  adop- 
tion, as  these  same  six  books  called  "  The  Westminster 
Standards."  Even  the  Continental  Churches  of  the 
Reformation,  which,  on  account  of  the  difference  of  Ian. 
guage,  did  not  adopt  them,  yet  accepted  them  as  good 
statements  of  the  Reformed  Faith,  equal  to  the  Canons 
of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  or 
the  Gallican  Confession  of  France. 

This  hurried  survey  of  European  Protestantism,  par- 
ticularly its  Presbyterian  side,  will  amply  show  the  foun- 
tains out  of  which  the  mingled  waters  of  American 
Protestantism  and  Presbyterianism  have  come.  No 
doubt  large  numbers  came,  in  these  early  Colonial  days, 
with  the  design  of  improving  their  worldly  prospects. 
Many  also  came  from  a  mere  spirit  of  adventure  and  a 
fondness  for  seeing  new  countries  and  new  settlements. 

With  a  large  part  of  the  better  element  of  the  early 
settlers  of  this  country,  however,  there  was  a  combina- 


EUROPEAN    PRESBYTERIANISM.  57 

tion  of  these  motives  coupled  with  a  powerful  propul- 
sion from  behind.  In  Germany  there  was  fairly  good 
toleration  amid  agitation.  In  France  it  was  one  vex- 
ation and  defeat  after  another,  until  absolute  subjection 
to  Romanism  was  imperiously  demanded  by  Louis  XIV., 
then  upon  the  French  throne.  Holland  was  groaning 
under  the  heel  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  until  the  alternative 
for  the  Dutch  was  war  and  suffering  at  home,  or  emi- 
gration to  America  to  settle  on  the  Hudson.  English 
Presbyterianism  had  no  great  leader  around  whom  to 
rally,  and  so  was  slow  in  organizing  ;  and  when  its  su- 
preme authority  came  in  the  session  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  at  the  time  of  the  overthrow  of  Charles 
I.,  the  great  military  leader  of  the  Commonwealth  was 
its  implacable  foe.  If  Oliver  Cromwell  had  been  as  tol- 
erant as  he  was  arbitrary,  England  would  have  prob- 
ably been  as  thoroughly  Presbyterian  as  Scotland. 
John  Knox  led  Scotland,  and  bequeathed  his  leadership 
to  competent  men. 

Ireland  has  seen  bloody  times  long  continued.  Ulster 
and  the  other  Provinces  of  Ireland  are  on  one  island, 
but  to  no  small  extent  they  are  diverse  peoples. 

Turn,  now,  the  currents  from  these  European  streams 
upon  the  American  seaboard,  and  mix  these  people  well 
together  for  their  mutual  helpfulness  and  enlighten- 
ment, and  it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  there  should 
not  come  out  thence  a  strong,  self-reliant  and  persistent 
class  of  people  like  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  America, 
which,  while  splitting  easily  like  hickory  wood,  is,  never- 
theless, solid  and  durable  when  kept  in  constant  use. 


CHAPTER  III. 

AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING THE    FIRST 

PRESBYTERY. 

TO  see  the  effect  of  religion  on  land  and  people  it  is 
but  needful  to  cross  Ireland  from  Oueenstown  to 
the  Giant's  Causeway.  At  the  South  there  is  the  best 
land  and  the  best  climate,  the  most  Roman  Catholics, 
the  most  beggary  and  squalor.  At  the  North  the  soil 
is  scant,  the  bogs  large,  and  agriculture  difficult  ;  but 
the  Protestant  people  are  busy,  loyal,  enterprising  and 
intelligent,  with  large  cities  full  of  factories  and  a  thrifty 
rural  population  extorting  generous  crops  from  unwill- 
ing lands. 

The  early  history  of  this  country  teaches  the  same 
lesson.  The  Spanish  explorers  were  all  Romanists, 
and  their  settlements  were  dedicated  to  the  spread  of 
their  religion.  The  motives  of  most  of  these  adven- 
turers were  mainly  ambition,  avarice  and  romance. 
Through  all,  however,  there  was  a  sense  of  duty  to  God 
and  the  Mother  Church  ;  and  when  taking  new  countries 
by  conquest,  they  pacified  their  consciences  by  calling 
it  the  conversion  of  the  natives.  The  "  Conquest  of 
Mexico  "  and  "the  Conquest  of  Peru,"  are  both  stories 
of  the  achievements  of  these  adventurers.  The  coun- 
tries thus  conquered  are  admirable  in  climate  and  rich 
in  minerals ;  and  yet,  for  some  reason,  in  both  of  these 
lands,  the  Roman  Church  sits  bankrupt  at  the  mouth 
of  their  inexhaustible  mines,  and  the  people,  even  when 

58 


AMERICAN   PRESBYTERIANISM    <  )K(  LVNIZING.  $9 

rich,  have  neither  enterprise,  inventions,  modern  civil- 
ization nor  good  government.  The  imagination  fails 
to  give  any  correct  conception  of  the  changes  which 
would  have  been  made  in  the  history  of  this  Continent 
if  Catholicism  had  taken  as  complete  charge  of  the  At- 
lantic Coast,  in  early  times  in  North  America,  as  it  has 
done  of  all  coasts  in  Central  and  South  America.  San 
Domingo  was  founded  August  4,  1496,  St.  Augus- 
tine, Fla.,  in  1565,  and  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  before  1600. 
The  Puritans  of  New  England  came  in  1620.  Catholic 
colonization  had  thus  almost  a  century  of  headway 
before  Protestantism  came  into  competition  with  it  in 
this  Western  Hemisphere. 

Of  Old  Testament  history,  more  than  one-half  of  it,  as 
far  as  time  is  concerned,  is  covered  by  the  first  twelve 
chapters.  Of  the  400  years  which  have  passed 
since  Columbus  discovered  America,  the  first  200 
will  occupy  but  little  space  in  any  history.  Yet 
the  first  100  years  was  a  period  of  great  events  in  Eu- 
rope. As  has  been  shown,  it  was  the  age  of  the  intro- 
duction of  the  printing  press,  the  Reformation,  the 
consolidation  of  modern  monarchies  under  Charles  V., 
.Francis  I.,  Henry  VIII.  and  Philip  of  Spain;  and  it 
closed  with  the  gigantic  struggle  between  Catholicism 
from  the  Peninsula  and  the  Reformation  from  the 
North  of  Europe,  under  the  leadership  of  Elizabeth  of 
the  British  Isles.  All  these  struggles  were  unsettling 
the  population  of  the  Old  World.  Unrest  there  made 
the  people  ready  for  emigration  hitherward.  Those 
who  came  to  America  came  from  all  those  disturbed 
European  countries,  and  came,  many  of  them,  in  a 
conscious  search  for  religious  liberty.  During  the 
second  century  of  American  history,  the  Jameses  and 


60  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Charleses  of  England  were  teaching  the  Protestants  of 
the  three  provinces  that  the  Stuarts  could  noi  be  trusted. 
As  the  troublous  times  under  these  English  monarchs 
unsettled  the  English  people,  the  best  of  them  became 
willing  to  take  refuge  in  the  American  wilderness. 
Along  with  them  came  the  Reformed  Dutch  of  Holland 
and  the  Huguenots  of  France.  Most  of  these  people, 
Huguenots,  Dutch,  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  were  essen- 
tially Presbyterian.  They  were  Calvinistsin  faith,  and 
believed  in  the  government  of  the  congregation  by 
elders.  Many  of  the  early  churches  were  thus  Presby- 
terian churches  in  fact,  though  perhaps  not  so  named 
by  themselves. 

Puritanism  came  to  this  country  with  the  first  Protes- 
tant settlements.  The  charter  of  the  Jamestown  colony 
made  Episcopacy  the  legal  religion,  but  nonconform- 
ists in  England  hushed  their  convictions  in  the  hope 
that,  in  America,  distance  would  protect  them  from  pre- 
latical  interference  with  their  preferences.  Both  Rob- 
ert Hunt,  the  first  pastor  at  Jamestown,  and  Mr.  Glover, 
his  successor,  were  Cambridge  graduates,  and  Puritan- 
ism was  prevalent  at  that  university.  Dr.  William 
Whitaker,  professor  of  divinity  at  Cambridge,  was  a 
leading  Puritan.  His  son,  Rev.  Alexander  Whitaker, 
came  to  Jamestown,  Va.,  with  a  company  of  Puritans 
under  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  in  161 1.  So  zealous  was  Alex- 
ander Whitaker  that  he  earned  the  title  of  the  "self- 
denying  Apostle  of  Virginia."  He  describes  his  work 
in  1614,  thus:  "Every  Sabbath  day  we  preach  in  the 
forenoon  and  catechise  in  the  afternoon.  Every  Sat- 
urday at  night,  I  exercise  in  Sir  Thomas  Dale's  house. 
Our  church  affairs  be  consulted  on  by  the  minister  and 
four  of  the  most  religious    men "     At    this    time    the 


AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM   ORGANIZING.  6 1 

Puritans  and  nonconformists  had  not  separated  in 
England  on  the  question  of  church  government,  but 
parties  were  already  forming.  A  preference  for  Pres- 
byterian Puritanism  was  called  Barrowism,  and  the 
preference  for  Congregational  Puritanism  was  called 
Brownism.  Whitaker's  Puritanism  is  indicated  by  his 
appeal  for  help  in  his  difficult  and  distant  field.  Under 
date  of  August  9,  161  1,  he  writes  :  "If  there  be  any 
young,  Godly  and  learned  ministers,  whom  the  Church 
of  England  hath  not,  or  refuseth  to  sett  a  worke,  send 
them  hither.  Our  harvest  is  froward  and  great  for 
want  of  such.  Young  men  are  fittest  for  this  country, 
and  we  have  noe  need  of  ceremonies  or  bad  livers.  Dis- 
cretion and  learneing,  zeal  with  knowledge,  would  doe 
much  good."  Whitaker  was  drowned  in  1616,  and  was 
succeeded  by  George  Keith,  a  Scotch  nonconformist, 
who  came  from  the  Bermudas  in  1617  and  settled  at 
Elizabeth  City.  He  had  been  associated  in  the  Ber- 
mudas with  Lewes  Hughes,  who  thus  describes  their 
form  of  government :  "  Ceremonies  are  in  no  request,  nor 
the  book  of  Common  Prayer;  I  use  it  not  at  all.  I 
have,  by  the  help  of  God,  begun  a  Church  government 
by  ministers  and  elders,  I  made  bold  to  choose  four 
elders  publickly  by  the  lifting  up  of  hands  and  calling 
upon  God."  Randall,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  in 
his  account  of  "A  Puritan  Colony  in  Maryland,"  says: 
"When,  in  1620,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  England 
turned  their  faces  westward,  their  destination  was  Vir- 
ginia." He  then  adds  "During  the  years  1618-21, 
twenty-five  hundred  persons  came  to  Virginia  alone, 
some  enticed  by  Gov.  Wyatt's  offers,  and  others  driven 
bv  persecutions  at  home  during  the  last  years  of  Arch- 
bishop Bancroft."      Rev.  Hawte  Wyatt,  brother  of  the 


62  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Governor,  came  in  1621,  and  the  Puritans  were  greatly 
strengthened  in  the  southern  countries.  Edward  Ben- 
net,  a  rich  London  merchant,  came  the  same  year,  and 
brought  a  considerable  band  of  Puritans,  who  settled 
upon  his  grant  of  land  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  a 
Puritan  Congregation.  A  perfect  system  of  local  gov- 
ernment was  developed  under  his  sway,  and  his  relative, 
Rev.  William  Bennet,  was  leader  in  all  spiritual  mat- 
ters. In  1629  the  Puritan  county  was  represented  by 
two  burgesses  in  the  Assembly.  The  rigorous  laws, 
framed  by  Archbishop  Bancroft  against  Dissenters,  had 
hitherto  remained  a  dead  letter  with  the  Virginia  Gov- 
ernors. But  in  1 63 1  an  act  was  passed  prescribing 
that  "there  be  uniformity  throughout  this  colony,  both 
in  substance  and  circumstances,  to  the  canons  and  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  of  England."  This  caused  the 
withdrawal,  at  least,  from  public  view,  of  the  Puritan 
divines  then  officiating  in  Virginia.  The  elders  of  the 
Churches  continued  to  conduct  services  in  private 
houses.  Mr.  Philip  Bennet,  one  of  the  elders,  was 
sent  in  May,  1641,  to  the  Church  in  Boston  with  a  peti- 
tion signed  by  seventy-one  persons,  requesting  that 
"ministers  be  spared  from  the  Church  in  New  England 
to  preach  in  that  distant  quarter."  But  in  1642  Sir 
William  Berkeley  came  to  Virginia  as  Governor,  and 
promptly  issued  a  proclamation  expelling  the  Puritan 
ministers  from  the  colony.  The  Puritans,  thus  driven 
out,  accepted  the  invitation  of  Lord  Baltimore,  through 
his  Governor,  Stone,  and  settled  in  Maryland.  But 
Lord  Baltimore  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  his  Gover- 
nor, who  wanted  settlers,  was  not  satisfied  with  these 
Puritans.  A  battle  resulted  in  1655,  with  victory  for 
the  Puritans.      Subsequently  many  more  settled  in  the 


AMERICAN   PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING.  63 

Eastern  shore,  as  well  as  the  Western  shore  of  the 
Chesapeake.  It  was  among  these  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land Puritans  that  Rev.  William  Trail,  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Laggan  in  Ireland,  found  refuge  in  1682,  and 
into  their  midst  in  1683  came  Francis  Makemie  by 
appointment  of  that  same  Irish  Presbytery  of  Laggan. 

The  Puritans  who  landed  at  Plymouth  were  part  of 
the  Church  of  Independents  which  had  left  England 
for  Leyden,  Holland,  under  John  Robinson.  They 
came  with  but  one  elder,  Brewster,  and  for  ten  years  had 
no  pastor;  and  so,  as  Dr.  Dexter  says,  "were  com- 
pelled to  carry  their  Congregationalism  to  a  degree  be- 
yond their  original  intent."  John  White,  subsequently 
an  Assessor  in  the  Westminster  Assembly,  planned  a 
Presbyterian  colony,  which  was  started  at  Salem,  in 
Massachusetts  Bay,  under  Roger  Conant  in  1625. 
These  two  churches,  at  Salem  and  at  Plymouth,  co-op- 
erated cordially,  and  encouraged  all  their  English  friends 
to  come  and  join  them.  The  two  systems  of  church 
government  were  by  no  means  distinct  in  this  country. 
This  is  the  explanation  of  the  frequent  Synods  and 
Councils,  reported,  in  early  New  England,  as  exercising 
far  more  than  advisory  authority.  It  was  generally  a 
question  of  the  influence  of  some  leading  spirit  which 
determined  the  form  of  church  government.  The  lead- 
ers in  New  England  more  and  more  drifted  into  Inde- 
pendency ;  while  further  South  the  immigrants  came 
from  Scotland  and  Ireland,  rather  than  England,  and 
their  leaders  went  into  Presbyterianism. 

Among  the  Huguenots  in  South  Carolina,  the  Scotch- 
Irish  emigrants  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  the  Dutch 
settlers  in  New  Amsterdam  (now  New  York),  Presbyte- 
rian  ways   were   quite   familiar   to  both   ministers  and 


64  PRESBYTERIANS. 

people.  Those  New  England  settlers  who  preferred 
Presbyterianism  to  Independency  drifted  southward 
through  Connecticut  and  Long  Island  into  New  Jersey. 
Rev.  Richard  Denton  was  one  of  the  first  of  these.  In 
1630  he  came  from  England,  with  a  considerable  part  of 
his  church,  and  settled  in  Watertown,  Mass.  Denton 
was  certainly  a  Presbyterian  by  fixed  choice.  He  was 
a  graduate  of  Cambridge  University  in  1623,  and  had 
been  a  pastor  at  Cooly  Chapel.  Like  Brewster's  Puri- 
tans, Denton's  people  came  with  him  as  an  organized 
body.  When  Denton  was  driven  out  of  Massachusetts 
by  the  opposition  to  his  Presbyterian  ways,  pastor -and 
people  removed  in  1644  to  Hempstead,  Long  Island. 
The  controversy  between  the  Independents  and  the 
Presbyterians  disturbed  Denton's  work  there  also.  In 
1658  he  returned  to  England.  As  if  in  anticipation  of 
his  departure,  in  1656  two  of  Denton's  sons,  Nathaniel 
and  Daniel,  and  their  Presbyterian  neighbors,  purchased 
from  the  Indians  on  Long  Island  a  large  tract  of  land, 
and  founded  Jamaica.  They  seem  to  have  had  a 
church  from  the  outset,  as  six  years  later  (1662)  they 
provided  a  parsonage.  In  1710  Rev.  George  Macnish, 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  first  Presbytery,  was 
called  as  the  eighth  pastor  of  this  Jamaica  Church. 
The  last  known  notice  of  that  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Hempstead  is  in  1729.  The  history  of  the  Jamaica 
Church  is  unbroken  down  to  the  present  time,  and  on 
the  above  facts  is  based  the  claim  that  it  is  the  oldest 
church  on  the  Assembly's  roll.  Mr.  Denton  was  a  man 
of  much  more  than  ordinary  talent  and  ability,  and  of 
him  Cotton  Mather  says:  "Though  he  was  a  little 
man,  yet  he  had  a  great  soul.  His  well  accomplished 
mind  in  his  lesser  body  was  an    Iliad  in  a  nut-shell.      I 


AMERICAN   PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING. 


65 


'"fe 


OLDEST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH    IN    AMERICA,    JAMAICA,    N.    Y. 

think  he  was  blind  of  one  eye — nevertheless  he  was  not 
the  least  among  the  seers  of  Israel."  He  wrote  a  sys- 
tem of  divinity,  though  it  was  not  published.  Rev. 
James  M.  Denton,  of  Yaphank,  Presbytery  of  Long 
Island,  is  a  descendant  of  this  early  Presbyterian  minister 
of  America.  Francis  Doughty  emigrated  to  Massachu- 
setts in  1637,  and  was  driven  thence  because  of  his  prac- 
tice of   infant   baptism.      He    found     refuge     with    the 


66  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Dutch,  and  was  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  that 
preached  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  ministered  there 
from  1643  to  1648.  By  and  by  he  also  was  driven  fur- 
ther South,  and  sought  refuge  in  the  colony  of  Mary- 
land, with  his  brother-in-law,  Governor  Stone.  He 
probably  died  in  that  section.  A  Presbyterian  church 
was  not  organized  in  New  York  City  until  171 7. 

During  all  this  time  companies  of  pious  people,  set- 
tling in  a  neighborhood,  were  gathered  together  for  re- 
ligious worship.  Occasionally  ministers  like  Denton, 
Doughty,  Hill,  Woodbridge,  Andrews,  Stobo  and  oth- 
ers would  visit  these  little  groups,  administer  the  sacra- 
ments and  preach  the  gospel.  Locomotion  was  difficult, 
and  communication  hard  to  secure.  No  system  of  post- 
offices  was  extant  then,  and  letters  were  sent  by  private 
conveyance  as  opportunity  might  offer.  But  with  the 
incoming  population  these  groups  would  multiply,  and 
be  ready  when  the  time  came  for  organization  into 
churches.  What  was  needed  was  an  organizing  man  of 
apostolic  heroism  and  practical  good  sense. 

Such  a  man  was  found  in  Francis  Makemie.  As  the 
West  now  clamors  at  the  door  of  the  East  for  more  min- 
isters to  preach  the  gospel,  so  in  these  early  American 
days  settlers  from  Presbyterian  countries  besought  their 
friends  at  home  to  supply  them  with  preachers  in  the 
Western  wilderness.  During  the  troublous  times  from 
1670  to  1680  large  numbers  moved  from  the  North  of 
Ireland  to  this  country.  Their  leading  men  kept  up  cor- 
respondence to  the  best  of  their  ability.  The  Presbytery 
of  Laggan,  Ireland,  received  such  a  letter  earnestly 
entreating  for  ministers.  The  Presbytery  itself  once 
voted  to  come,  but  hesitated,  and  after  due  considera- 
tion selected  Francis  Makemie  as  a  suitable  person  to 


AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING.  67 

be  sent  to  America  on  that  mission.  Makemie  was 
born  at  Ramelton,  County  Donegal,  Ireland,  but  the 
date  is  not  known.  He  was  in  Glasgow  University  in 
1675-76  and  was  licensed  about  1681.  He  was  ordained 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Laggan  in  1682  that  he  might  go 
to  America,  and  reached  this  country  in  1683.  He 
traveled  throughout  all  the  settlements,  going  South  as 
far  as  the  Carolinas,  and  North  as  far  as  New  York  and 
Boston.  He  organized  churches  at  Rehoboth  and 
Snow  Hill  on  the  Eastern  shore  of  Maryland.  In  1704 
he  went  back  to  London  to  secure  aid  for  the  churches 
in  this  country,  and  was  so  successful  that  the  ministers 
of  London  agreed  to  support  two  men  for  two  years. 
Makemie  returned  in  1705,  bringing  with  him  John 
Hampton  and  George  Macnish.  These  three  took 
charge  of  the  work  in  that  section.  In  Philadelphia, 
Jedediah  Andrews  was  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  appears  to  have  been  ordained  in  Phila- 
delphia about  1 701.  His  predecessor  was  Benjamin 
Woodbridge,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Boston  ministers 
with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Governor  Markham. 
With  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were 
certainly  three  Presbyterian  ministers  in  Delaware,  one 
in  Philadelphia,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  in  South  Carolina 
by  the  name  of  Stobo,  and  probably  several  Scotch 
Presbyterian  pastors  of  Congregational  churches  in  New 
England. 

In  this  condition  of  scattered  congregations  and 
groups  of  people  ready  to  be  organized  into  churches, 
and  a  small  number  of  ministers  anxious  for  sympathy 
and  support  from  each  other,  it  needed  but  an  occasion 
to  mold  these  all  into  a  Presbytery.  The  occasion 
came  in  due   season,  by  the  call   for  the   ordination  of 


68  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Mr.  John  Boyd  to  become  pastor  of  the  church  of  Free- 
hold, N.  J.  The  original  minutes  of  Presbytery  are 
in  the  archives  of  the  Historical  Society  in  Philadelphia, 
but,  alas  !  the  first  leaf  is  gone.  The  record  begins, 
therefore,  on  page  3,  with  the  end  of  a  sentence 
which  seems  to  be  giving  the  subjects  of  Mr.  Boyd's 
parts  of  trial  for  ordination.  The  last  half  of  this 
broken  sentence  is  as  follows  :  "  'Dc  regimine  ecclesice' 
which  being  heard  was  approved  of  and  sustained,  and 
his  ordination  took  place  on  the  next  Lord's  day, 
December  29,  1706."  Curiosity  wonders  what  records 
would  have  been  found  if  we  had  those  two  pages  of  the 
first  leaf  of  the  minutes  of  that  Presbyter)'.  At  whose 
call  and  by  whose  authority  was  Presbytery  convened  ? 
Did  they  consider  and  adopt  the  Westminster  Stand- 
ards as  their  system  of  faith  and  government  ?  The 
best  supported  opinion  is  that  by  this  time  Makemie's 
leadership  had  become  obvious.  His  trip  to  the  old 
country,  and  probably  its  success,  was  by  this  time  pretty 
well  known.  Mr.  Boyd  or  his  people  wrote  asking  how 
he  should  be  ordained,  and  Makemie  improvised  a 
meeting  in  the  spring  of  1  706  for  the  purpose  of  arrang- 
ing for  this  ordination,  Boyd's  trials  being  appointed 
for  the  December  meeting. 

Presbyterianism  thus  grew  out  of  the  soil  and  of  the 
necessities  of  the  case.  It  did  not  begin  at  the  top  as 
it  had  done  in  France  and  Scotland,  but  began  at  the 
bottom  and  by  degrees  rose  to  strength.  Now  Synods 
are  constituted  by  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
Presbyteries  organized  by  act  of  Synod.  Then  Presby- 
teries were  organized  by  the  necessity  of  the  situation. 
In  1  71  7,  the  Presbytery  divided  itself  and  constituted  a 
Synod  above  it;  and  in    1788  the  Synod  divided   itself 


AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING.  69 

into  subordinate  Synods  and  created  itself  a  General 
Assembly.  There  is  no  good  reason  to  believe  that  this 
first  Presbytery  adopted  any  standards  for  their  own 
guidance.  It  looks  as  though  they  came  together 
assuming  the  Westminster  Standards  as  authoritative 
without  any  special  adoption  in  this  country.  They 
adopted  the  ordinary  parliamentary  law  as  their  method 
of  action.  They  did  not  even  adopt  a  name,  as  Presby- 
teries now  have  names.  It  was  simply  "  The  Presby- 
tery ";  not  of  Philadelphia,  nor  of  New  Jersey,  nor  of 
Maryland.  There  was  no  other,  and  when  it  was  spoken 
of  there  was  no  ambiguity.  When,  in  1716,  the  Synod 
was  constituted  by  dividing  the  General  Presbytery  into 
four,  these  were  simply  named  First,  Second,  Third, 
and  so  on.  It  was  a  day  of  great  demands  for  activity, 
and  of  small  resources  of  men  and  means  to  meet  the 
requirements.  This  first  meeting  at  Freehold  was  the 
only  meeting  which  was  had  outside  of  Philadelphia. 
That  city  was  so  central  and  so  accessible  that  the  early 
Presbyteries  always  met  there.  So,  with  three  excep- 
tions, did  succeeding  Synods  and  General  Assemblies, 
down  to  1834.  The  three  men  who  were  present  at 
this  ordination  of  Mr.  Boyd  were  Francis  Makemie, 
Jedediah  Andrews  and  John  Hampton.  The  original 
members  of  the  first  Presbytery  included  these  three, 
with  George  Macnish,  John  Wilson  and  Nathaniel 
Taylor. 

Some  curious  and  interesting  things  are  found  in  the 
minutes  of  the  early  Presbytery.  In  1  707  they  refused 
to  excuse  Samuel  Davis,  of  Lewes,  Del.,  for  non-attend- 
ance, notwithstanding  the  distance  he  had  to  come.  They 
determined  to  take  up  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and 
go  regularly  through  it,  and  Francis  Makemie  and  John 


JO  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Wilson  were  appointed  on  the  first  and  second  verses 
of  the  first  chapter  to  preach  "  by  way  of  exercise  and 
addition."  That  same  year  Messrs.  Andrews  and  Boyd 
were  directed  to  "prepare  some  overtures  to  be  consid- 
ered by  the  Presbytery  for  propagating  religion  in  their 
respective  congregations."  They  reported  three,  which 
were  adopted  as  follows  :  "  First.  That  every  minister 
in  their  respective  congregations  read  and  comment  on 
a  chapter  of  the  Bible  every  Lord's  day,  as  discretion 
and  circumstances  of  time  and  place  will  admit.  Second. 
That  it  be  recommended  to  every  minister  of  the  Pres- 
bytery to  set  on  foot  and  encourage  private  Christian 
societies.  Third.  That  every  minister  of  the  Presby- 
tery supply  neighboring  desolate  places  where  a  minister 
is  wanting  and  opportunity  of  doing  good  is  offered." 
This  resolution  with  reference  to  private  Christian  so- 
cieties shows  that  such  things  are  not  modern  ;  and  No. 
3  is  full  of  a  thorough-going  spirit  of  home  missions. 
Mr.  Andrews,  of  Philadelphia,  partook  of  the  Puritan 
hostility  to  reading  and  commenting  on  a  chapter,  as 
was  advised  ;  and  so  the  next  year  he  was  urged  to  take 
it  into  his  serious  consideration.  The  people  of  Snow 
Hill,  like  some  churches  now,  were  slow  in  paying  the 
preacher  ;  so  Presbytery  sent  a  letter  to  them  "  requir- 
ing their  faithfulness  and  care  in  collecting  the  to- 
bacco promised  by  subscription  to  Mr.  Hampton." 
There  was  the  usual  amount  of  church  troubles  over 
such  questions  as  the  location  of  church  buildings,  the 
division  of  churches  and  the  evil  reputation  of  some 
of  their  ministers.  In  the  days  of  their  weakness  the 
churches  were  burdened  with  men  who  had  neither 
piety  nor  zeal.  Efforts  were  made  to  secure  reports 
from  both  ministers  and  elders  as  to  "  how  matters  are 


AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM    ORGANIZING.  J\ 

betwixt  them,  both  in  regard  to  spirituals  and  tempo- 
rals." In  i  71  i,  "  inquiry  was  made  of  the  several  minis- 
ters touching  the  state  of  their  congregations  and  them- 
selves  with  relation  thereto  ;  and  also  of  the  several 
elders,  not  only  of  the  measures  taken  to  support  the 
ministry,  but  of  the  life,  conversation  and  doctrine  of 
their  several  ministers."  It  was  decided  that  "  none 
should  be  allowed  to  vote  for  the  calling  of  a  minister, 
but  those  who  shall  contribute  for  the  maintenance  of 
him."  In  1713,  Presbytery  received  a  letter  from  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Reynolds,  promising-  to  advance  thirty 
pounds  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  Presbytery,  and  Messrs. 
Macnish,  McGill,  Henry  and  Gillispie  were  directed  to 
apply  it  to  such  members  of  the  Presbytery  as  they  saw 
fit.  Here  was  an  incipient  Board  of  Home  Missions  for 
the  sustentation  of  the  pastors  of  weaker  churches,  with 
power  also  to  act  as  a  Board  of  Relief.  The  impor- 
tance of  record  books  of  sessional  meetings  grew  to  be 
obvious;  and  in  1714  it  was  voted  that  "in  every  con- 
gregation there  be  a  sufficient  number  of  assistants 
chosen,  to  aid  the  minister  in  the  management  of  con- 
gregational affairs,  and  that  there  be  a  book  of  records 
for  that  effect,  and  that  the  same  be  annually  brought 
here  to  be  revised  by  the  Presbytery."  This  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  the  rule  before,  and  no  mention  is 
made  of  any  amendments  to  any  constitution,  as  if  one 
had  been  previously  adopted.  Thereafter  this  method 
of  review  is  maintained,  and  action  is  taken  directing 
that  the  "ministers  come  with  said  books,  and  perform 
the  other  end  of  the  said  act  as  it  is  specified  therein." 
By  the  close  of  the  meeting  of  1  7 1  5,  it  was  apparent  that 
the  business  of  the  Presbytery  was  showing  need  of  re- 
adjustment.     The  last  resolution  of  that  meeting  is  "a 


72 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


recommendation  to  all  and  every  member  of  this  Pres- 
bytery, that  betwixt  this  and  our  next  meeting  they  may 
think  of,  and  prepare,  what  they  may  judge  most  neces- 
sary to  be  presented  to  our  Presbytery  for  the  common 
or  particular  good  of  all  or  any  of  us."  They  had  now 
finished  in  preaching  regularly  "  by  way  of  exercise"  the 
first  chapter  of  the  book  of  Hebrews.  As  nearly  as 
can  now  be  ascertained  they  had  grown  to  be  a  body  of 
nineteen  ministers,  forty  churches,  and  three  thousand 
communicants.  These  were  scattered  up  and  down  the 
Atlantic  Coast.  Whether  this  instruction,  to  come  to 
the  meeting  in  1 716  with  plans  for  the  more  efficient 
accomplishment  of  the  work,  was  with  the  view  to  the 
division  into  subordinate  Presbyteries  and  reconstruc- 
tion as  a  General  Synod  or  not,  that  was  the  great  thing 
accomplished.  In  1  716  four  Presbyteries  were  arranged 
for,  but  singularly  enough  the  time  and  place  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  respective  Presbyteries  were  left  to  their  own 
discretion.  It  was  proposed  that  one  Presbytery  should 
be  on  Lone  Island,  but  holding  fast  to  the  rule  of  the 
Scotch  Church  that  three  ministers  were  necessary  to  con- 
stitute a  Presbytery,  Messrs.  Macnish  and  Pumry  were 
directed  to  use  their  best  endeavors  with  the  neighboring 
brethren  that  were  settled  with  them  on  that  Island,  to 
have  them  join  with  them  in  erecting  this  fourth  Pres- 
bytery. Each  Presbytery  was  instructed  to  "bring  the 
book  containing  the  records  of  their  proceedings  every 
year  to  our  anniversary  Synod  to  be  revised."  The 
thrill  of  gladness  at  their  growth  under  God's  blessing  is 
indicated  by  the  preface  to  their  Act  of  Division.  It 
reads  :  "  It  having  pleased  Divine  Providence  so  to  in- 
crease our  number,  as  that,  after  much  deliberation,  we 
judge  it  more  serviceable  to  the  interest  of  religion,  to 
divide  ourselves  into  subordinate   meetings  or  Presby- 


74  PRESBYTERIANS. 

teries,  constituting-  one  annually  as  a  Synod,  to  meet  at 
Philadelphia  or  elsewhere,  to  consist  of  all  the  members 
of  each  subordinate  Presbytery  or  meeting  for  this  year, 
at  least.  Therefore,  it  is  agreed  by  the  Presbytery, 
after  serious  deliberation,  that  the  first  subordinate 
meeting  or  Presbytery  meet  in  Philadelphia  or  else- 
where as  they  see  fit,  and  do  consist  of  the  following 
members,  viz.:  Masters  Andrews,  Jones,  Powell,  Orr, 
Braclner  and  Morgan." 

Many  changes  had  come  into  that  Presbytery  since  it 
was  organized  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Boyd.  Francis 
Makemie,  its  founder  and  father,  had  died  in  1708. 
His  life,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Days  of  Makemie," 
written  by  Dr.  Bowen,  is  as  interesting  as  any  romance 
could  be.  For  twenty-five  years  he  had  been  the  leader 
of  his  denomination  in  this  country.  He  twice  visited 
England,  and  at  some  time  visited  nearly  every  part  of 
the  colonies.  When  in  New  York,  January  19,  1  707,  he 
preached  in  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Jackson.  For  this  he 
was  arrested,  indicted  and  compelled  to  return  to  New 
York  from  his  Southern  home  to  stand  his  trial.  Lord 
Cornbury,  a  relative  of  James  II.,  was  then  Governor, 
and  ruled  without  respect  to  justice.  Cornbury  appro- 
priated a  Presbyterian  parsonage  in  1702,  by  borrowing 
it  for  the  sake  of  sickness,  and  when  it  was  no  longer 
needed  he  turned  the  house  over  into  the  hands  of 
churchmen.  In  Makemie,  Cornbury  met  with  a  man 
who  was  not  only  a  preacher  but  a  very  respectable 
lawyer,  and  the  government  attorneys  were  completely 
beaten  at  every  point.  The  jury  brought  in  a  verdicc 
of  not  guilty,  and  solemnly  declared  that  they  believed 
the  defendent  innocent  of  any  violation  of  the  law.  In 
spite  of  the  verdict  the  Court  assessed  on  Makemie  the 
entire  costs,  which  amounted  to  more  than  $400.      Ma- 


AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANISM  ORGANIZING.  7$ 

kemie  seems  to  have  been  a  business  man  as  well  as  a 
minister  and  a  lawyer.  Before  long  Lord  Cornbury 
fell  into  disgrace  with  the  English  Government,  and,  in 
his  letter  in  his  own  behalf,  he  describes  Makemie  in 
the  following  vigorous  language :  "  I  entreat  your 
protection  against  this  malicious  man.  He  is  a  Jack-of- 
all-trades.  He  is  a  preacher,  a  doctor  of  physic,  a 
merchant,  an  attorney,  a  counselor-at-law,  and,  which  is 
worse  than  all,  a  disturber  of  Governments."  Ma- 
kemie's  name  is  signed  as  executor  in  several  suits  in 
the  courts  of  Maryland,  and  his  will  indicates  that  he 
was  a  man  of  considerable  property. 

He  married  Naomi  Anderson.  In  less  than  a  year 
after  Makemie's  death,  the  widow  married  James  Kemp, 
but  died  very  soon  thereafter.  Makemie's  elder 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  survived  her  father  less  than  a 
year.  The  younger  daughter,  Annie,  first  married  Mr. 
Blair,  then  Mr.  King,  then  Mr.  Holden.  She  died 
childless,  as  legal  records  show,  between  November  15, 
1  ySy,  and  January  29,  1  ySS.  She  thus  lived  to  see  the  year 
of  the  erection  of  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Synod. 
Makemie  is  described  as  a  "  man  of  eminent  piety  and 
strong  intellectual  powers,  adding  to  force  of  talents  a 
fascinating  address  ,  and  conspicuous  for  his  dignity  and 
faith  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel."  His  grave  has  been 
identified,  but  at  this  date  (1892),  is  unmarked  and 
neglected.  Churches,  parsonages,  schools  and  colleges 
have  been  named  after  him,  but  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  his  monument.  He  showed  himself  always 
the  patriot,  and  so  taught  his  children.  In  the  will  of 
Madame  Holden,  his  daughter,  is  a  bequest  to  Joseph 
Boggs  on  condition  that  "  the  said  Joseph  will  vote  at 
the  annual  election  for  the  most  wise  and  most  discreet 
men  who  have  proved  themselves  real   friends  of  the 


j6  PRESBYTERTANS. 

American   independence    to    represent   the    County  of 
Accomack." 

While  Makemie  was  no  doubt  the  leading  man  in  the 
public  eye  in  this  period  of  early  organization,  the  work 
done    by    Jedediah    Andrews    was    perhaps   as    impor- 
tant.     Managing  men  may  be  seen  more  by  the  public, 
but  these  substantial  men,  who  stand  by  the  work,  and 
do  what   may  be  called  the  laborious  drudgery,  are  as 
essential.     Jedediah  Andrews' work  began  with  his  ordi- 
nation in  the  autumn  of  1701.     The   lives  of   these  two 
men  overlapped  only  about  seven   years,  but  their  in- 
timacy is  indicated  by  the   fact   that  Makemie  left   his 
library  to  Andrews.      Andrews  was  born   at  Hingham, 
Mass.,  July  7,  1674,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1695.      He  was  licensed  in  New  England,  and,  in  the 
summer   of    1698,  went  to   Philadelphia  and  preached 
to  the   Presbyterians  in    "The    Barbadoes  Store."      In 
1704  his  people  erected  a  church  on    Buttonwood  (now 
Market)  Street.      He  was  Recording  Clerk  of  the  Pres- 
bytery and  Synod  as  long  as  he  lived,  and   conducted 
most    of    their    correspondence.      He    was    always    the 
earnest  advocate  of  an  educated  ministry,  and  was  con- 
sidered signally  gifted  in   bringing  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination  angry    disputes    both    in    congregations   and 
among  individuals.     The  four  leading   figures  in  that 
early  Presbytery,  and  three  of  them  afterward  in  Synod, 
were   Makemie,  Andrews,     Hampton      and      Macnish. 
Andrews  died  in  1747,  nearly  forty  years  after  Makemie. 
These  men  and  their  coadjutors  were  so   familiar  with 
Presbyterian  doctrines,  methods  and  forms  of  work  that 
the    organization     of    a    Presbytery    was    a    matter    of 
instinct,  and  its  enlargement  into  a  Synod  was  always 
anticipated. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    FIRST    SYNOD    AND    ITS    DIVISION. 

\  CCORDING  to  appointment  of  the  Presbytery  on 
x\  its  adjournment  the  preceding  year,  the  Synod  first 
met  in  Philadelphia,  September  17,  1717.  George 
Macnish,  the  last  moderator  of  the  Presbytery,  opened 
the  meeting  with  a  sermon,  and  Jedediah  Andrews  was 
elected  his  successor.  A  glance  at  Europe  will  show 
the  character  of  the  emigration  which  had  increased 
the  number  of  the  churches  and  ministers  during  the 
ten  years  of  the  existence  of  the  Presbytery,  and  will  pre- 
pare us  to  anticipate  the  rapid  growth  which  came  after 
the  organization  of  the  Synod.  The  Huguenots  were 
expelled  from  France  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  about  a  third  of  a  century  before  this  Synod 
met.  That  intervening  time  had  been  occupied  in  their 
dispersion  through  Holland  and  the  British  Isles.  In 
England  they  were  welcomed  by  the  Protestants,  and 
there  they  learned  the  English  language.  By  the  time 
this  wave  of  fugitives  from  France  reached  America, 
this  country  was  fairly  quiet,  and  the  English  language 
the  common  speech  of  all.  James  II.  came  to  the 
English  throne  in  1685,  an<^  began  that  persecution  of 
Protestants  which  culminated  in  his  overthrow  and 
the  ascension  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  the  revolution 
of  16SS.  William  and  Mar)-  were  Protestants,  but 
they  could  not  prevent  their  subjects  from  harassing 
the  Presbyterians.      When    Queen   Anne   came   to  the 

77 


78  PRESBYTERIANS. 

throne  in  1702,  the  ministry  so  managed  the  govern- 
ment as  to  make  emigration  still  more  desirable  for  the 
Presbyterians.  The  House  of  Hanover,  in  the  person 
of  George  I.,  ascended  the  throne  in  1714.  He  was  a 
thorough-going  German,  and  could  neither  speak  nor 
understand  the  English  language.  His  ministry,  there- 
fore, molded  him  and  the  public  policy  much  according 
to  their  own  minds.  From  171  7  onward,  the  emigra- 
tion from  Ireland  was  very  large.  French  Huguenots 
settled  and  organized  distinctively  Presbyterian  churches 
in  New  York,  Charleston,  New  Rochelle,  and  else- 
where. These  churches,  as  they  lost  French  and 
learned  English,  came  into  the  oeneral  connection  of  the 
Synod.  In  England  the  officers  of  the  government 
supposed  that,  if  the  pastors  could  be  driven  to  Amer- 
ica, the  people  at  home  would  return  to  the  state 
churches.  The  Act  of  Toleration,  relieving  Dissenters 
from  the  oppressive  Act  of  Uniformity,  was  not  enacted 
by  the  British  Parliament  until  1719.  The  troubles 
abroad  brought  benefits  here;  and  in  171 8  Cotton 
Mather  wrote,  "  We  are  comforted  with  great  numbers 
of  the  oppressed  brethren  coming  from  the  North  of 
Ireland.  The  glorious  Providence  of  God,  in  the 
removal  hither  of  so  many  of  a  desirable  character,  hath 
doubtless  very  great  intentions  in  it."  The  Irish  Synod 
was  not  satisfied  with  the  form  in  which  toleration  was 
presented,  and  the  names  of  the  members  of  that  first 
American  Synod  show  a  large  membership  added  from 
these  Irish  immigrants. 

The  first  meeting  of  Synod  consisted  of  thirteen 
ministers  and  six  ciders.  Pressed  with  the  work  to  be 
done,  the  Synod  immediately  addressed  itself  to  the 
financial  question  of  its  impoverished  situation   and  its 


THE   FIRST  SYNOD   AND   ITS   DIVISION.  79 

great  need.  It  established  "  A  Fund  for  Pious  Uses." 
This  was  the  beginning  of  all  the  missionary  enterprises 
which  have  since  been  organized  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  A  treasurer  was  chosen  in  the  person  of  Jed- 
ediah  Andrews,  and  the  record  is  that  "the  just  sum  of 
eighteen  pounds,  one  shilling  and  sixpence,  was 
weighed  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Jedediah 
Andrews,  for  which  he  obliged  himself,  his  heirs,  admin- 
istrators, and  executors  to  be  accountable  to  the  Synod, 
unavoidable  emergency  only  excepted."  This  memo- 
randum was  signed  by  Jedediah  Andrews,  with  John 
Hampton  as  witness.  To  this  there  was  added  the 
note,  "  These  are  to  testify,  that  there  was  an  error  in 
the  summing  up  of  the  money  above  mentioned  in  the 
memorandum,  by  exceeding  the  sum  expressed,  one 
pound,  five  shillings  and  eightpence.  Attest,  George 
Macnish."  In  due  time  a  guarantee  bond  was  driven 
by  Mr.  Andrews  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his 
duties,  and  his  book  accounts  were  to  be  yearly  exam- 
ined in  Synod.  Each  year  the  question  was  asked 
about  collections  for  this  fund,  and  the  names  given  of 
those  who  had  brought  collections.  Earnest  letters 
were  sent  to  the  churches  that  had  failed,  exhorting 
them  to  contribute  as  they  should  from  time  to  time  be 
able.  The  fund  was  also  used  as  we  now  use  the 
Board  of  Ministerial  Relief;  for,  in  1719,  "The  com- 
mittee for  the  fund"  recommended  that  "  the  widow  of 
the  Rev.  John  Wilson  be  considered  as  a  person  wor- 
thy of  the  regard  of  this  Synod,  and  that  four  pounds 
be  now  given  her  out  of  the  present  fund,  and  discre- 
tionary power  be  lodged  with  Mr.  Andrews  to  give  her 
some  further  supply  out  of  the  said  fund."  At  the 
present  time  the  largest  collections  for  the   Boards  of 


8o  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  Church  come  from  New  York,  but,  in  i  7 1 9,  the 
committee  appointed  to  consider  of  the  fund  recom- 
mended that  "  A  tenth  part  of  the  neat  produce  of  the 
Glasgow  collection  be  given  to  the  Presbyterian  con- 
gregation of  New  York,  toward  the  support  of  the 
Gospel  among  them."  Very  early  a  committee  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  Synod  was  appointed  each  year 
to  have  charge  of  this  fund  for  the  year  to  come. 
Though  not  named  a  board,  it  was  to  every  intent  and 
purpose  such  an  organization,  and  "It  was  earnestly 
recommended  by  the  Synod  to  all  their  members  to  use 
their  diligence  that  the  yearly  collections  for  the  fund 
may  be  duly  minded,  that  the  said  collections  may  not 
drop,  as  there  seems  danger  that  they  may,  in  case  bet- 
ter care  be  not  taken  than  has  been  for  some  years 
past."  This  is  the  phraseology  of  the  act  of  1 73 1 , 
but  its  essence  was  repeated  every  year.  Earnest 
appeals  for  the  increase  of  this  fund  were  sent  over  to 
Scotland  ;  and  in  171  7  the  Scottish  Church  appointed 
the  third  Sabbath  of  August  for  making  collections  in 
the  behalf  of  this  fund  for  mission  work  in  America. 
The  contribution,  amounting  to  ^313,  was  sent, 
not  in  money  but  in  goods,  and  in  1719  the  Com- 
mittee concerning  the  fund  recommended  that  Synod 
appoint  fit  persons  to  receive  the  collections  of  the 
Synod  of  "  Glasgow  and  Ayr,"  if  it  arrived  safe  in 
goods,  and  put  them  into  the  hands  of  some  substantial 
person  to  be  sold  to  the  best  advantage  for  the  money. 
This  committee  was  charged  also  to  concert  together 
about  the  letting  out  of  the  money  received  from  said 
goods  to  interest,  and  were  to  be  accountable  to  Synod. 
Difficulties  of  travel  and  the  extent  of  country  over 
which  the  members  of  the  Synod  were  scattered,  raised 


THE    FIRST   SYNOD   AND    ITS   DIVISION.  8 1 

the  question  as  to  Synod  meeting"  by  delegates.  In 
1724,  "  after  reasoning  upon  the  matter,  it  was  at  last 
put  to  vote  thus  :  Appear  by  delegate  or  not — and  it 
was  carried  in  the  affirmative  ;  and  likewise  concluded 
by  vote  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  and  Phila- 
delphia do  yearly  delegate  the  half  of  their  members  to 
the  Synod,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island  two  of 
their  number.  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  all  the 
members  of  the  Synod  do  attend  every  third  year." 
But  it  was  allowed  "  that  every  member  of  Synod  may 
attend  as  formerly  if  they  see  cause."  The  committee 
on  bills  and  overtures  met  often  at  six  in  the  morning, 
to  prepare  matters  for  speedy  consideration.  To  bring 
important  business  to  a  prompt  conclusion,  in  1720,  it 
was  ordered  "  that  a  commission  of  Synod  be  appointed 
to  act  in  the  name?  and  with  the  authority  of  the  whole 
Synod  in  all  affairs  that  shall  come  before  them  ;  and 
particularly,  that  the  whole  of  'the  fund'  be  left  to 
their  conduct,  and  that  they  be  accountable  to  Synod." 
This  commission  never  seemed  to  do  much  except  in 
relation  to  the  fund.  Competent  power  had  no  doubt 
been  granted  by  the  Synod,  but  the  members  were 
timid  about  using  that  power,  outside  of  the  financial 
question,  with  which  they  had  to  deal  promptly  and 
constantly. 

The  question  of  a  call  to  the  ministry  pressed  heavily 
upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  members.  Far  more 
ministers  were  needed  than  could  be  secured  ;  and,  of 
course,  the  temptation  to  license  men  insufficiently  pre- 
pared was  very  strong.  When  it  came  to  a  concrete  case, 
however,  the  Synod  showed  rare  nerve  and  decision. 
The  record  concerning  a  certain  individual  before  them 
is  :   "  The  ministers  of  Synod,  having  seriously  and  de- 


82  PRESBYTERIANS. 

liberately  considered  the  above  case,  do  unanimously 
agree  in  judgment  that  the  said  person  has  not  any 
regular  call  that  way.  For  though  we  are  satisfied  as 
to  his  piety  and  Godly  life,  yet  we  think  he  wants  nec- 
essary qualifications  required  in  the  Word  of  God  for 
a  gospel  minister,  and  therefore  advise  him  to  continue 
in  the  vocation  wherein  he  is  called,  and  endeavor  to 
be  useful  as  a  private  Christian."  Some  years  later  a 
case  came  before  them  in  which  they  expressed  the 
opinion  that  another  brother,  "Owing  to  a  certain 
weakness  and  deficiency,  which  rendered  his  exercise 
of  the  ministerial  function  a  detriment  to  the  interest 
of  religion,  and  rather  a  scandal  than  a  help  to  the  Gos- 
pel ;  Synod  advised  him  to  demit  the  whole  exercise  of 
the  ministry."  Of  this  brother  it  is  recorded  that  he 
quietly  and  humbly  acquiesced  in  the  aforesaid  advice. 
His  submissive  behavior  seems  to  have  commended 
him  to  the  Synod,  for,  "  in  testimony  of  their  compas- 
sion, they  gave  him  out  of  the  Fund  the  sum  of  forty 
shillings."  It  is  perhaps  to  be  much  regretted  that 
modern  Presbyteries  and  Synods  do  not  deal  with 
cases  of  mental  weakness  and  deficiency  of  common 
sense  with  the  same  fidelity.  The  vigor  with  which 
the  Synod  administered  discipline  is  indicated  by  the 
class  of  cases  before  it.  For  years  the  question  of  the 
use  of  the  lot  was  agitated,  and  Synod  testified  its  con- 
viction that  "the  use  of  the  lot  for  the  decision  of  un- 
important matters  was  unscriptural."  Several  cases 
came  before  them  in  which  parties,  which  had  agreed  to 
arbitration  as  a  method  of  determining  their  differences, 
showed  an  indisposition  to  abide  by  the  decisions. 
The  Synod  insisted  that  these  agreements  were  mor- 
ally binding   upon   the  parties  and  should   be  obeyed. 


THE   FIRST  SYNOD   AND    ITS   DIVISION.  83 

In  1729  the  subject  of  litigation  before  the  civil  courts 
among  church  members  was  before  the  Synod.  An  ex- 
cellent resolution  was  passed  as  follows  :  "  The  Synod 
do  bear  their  testimony  against  and  declare  their  great 
dissatisfaction  of  the  religious  law-suits  that  are  main- 
tained  among  professors  of  religion,  so  contrary  to  that 
peace  and  love  which  the  Gospel  requires,  and  the  ex- 
press direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  I  Cor.  6.,  1-3, 
and  consequently  very  much  to  the  scandal  of  our  pro- 
fession." As  a  substitute  for  these  law-suits  Synod 
strongly  recommended  that  these  differences  be  deter- 
mined by  arbitration,  and  urged  the  ministers  and 
church  officers  to  strive  by  that  means  to  avoid  such 
controversies. 

Remembering  how  closely  the  Church  and  the  state 
were  united  in  the  Old  Country,  it  is  to  the  honor  of 
Presbyterianism  that  the  Synod  so  early  uttered  its 
testimony  against  the  control  of  the  Church  by  the  civil 
magistrates.  The  question  was  before  them  in  1729, 
along  with  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  Westminster 
Standards,  when  Synod  "unanimously  declared  that 
they  do  not  receive  those  articles  [the  20th  and  23d  chap- 
ters] in  any  such  sense  as  to  suppose  the  civil  magistrate 
hath  a  controlling  power  over  Synods  with  respect  to 
the  exercise  of  their  ministerial  authority  ;  or  power  to 
persecute  any  for  their  religion,  or  in  any  sense  con- 
trary to  the  Protestant  succession  to  the  throne  of 
Great  Britain."  While  thus  holding  to  the  freedom  of 
the  Church,  the  brethren  were  thoroughly  loyal  to  the 
Crown  of  England.  This  loyalty  was  indicated  in  1743 
when  Thomas  Cookson,  Esq.,  one  of  his  Majesty's  jus- 
tices, brought  in  a  paper  to  be  laid  before  the  Synod. 
The  Synod  at  once  agreed  "  to  defer  all  other  business 


84  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  set  aside  their  common  methods  of  proceeding  in 
order  to  consider  it."  What  the  paper  was  can  only 
be  gathered  from  the  minute,  but  that  minute  goes  on 
to  say,  "  the  above-mentioned  paper,  with  an  affidavit 
concerning  it,  being  read  in  open  Synod,  it  was  unani- 
mously agreed  that  it  was  full  of  treason,  sedition  and 
distraction,  and  grievous  perverting  of  the  sacred 
oracles  to  the  ruin  of  all  society  and  civil  government, 
and  directly  and  diametrically  opposite  to  our  religious 
principles  ;  as  we  have  on  all  occasions  openly  and 
publicly  declared  to  the  world  ;  and  we  hereby  unani- 
mously, and  with  the  greatest  sincerity,  declare  that  we 
detest  this  paper.  And  if  Mr.  Alexander  Craighead 
be  the  author,  we  know  nothing  of  the  matter.  And 
we  hereby  declare  that  he  hath  been  no  member  of  this 
society  for  some  time  past,  nor  do  we  acknowledge  him 
as  such,  though  we  cannot  but  heartily  lament  that 
any  man  that  was  ever  called  a  Presbyterian  should  be 
guilty  of  what  is  in  this  paper."  The  moderator,  with 
three  leading  members,  was  appointed  a  committee  to 
draw  up  an  address  to  the  Governor  on  this  occasion, 
which  address,  and  a  copy  of  the  above-quoted  vigorous 
minute  in  relation  to  this  affair,  was  entered  on  the 
records. 

But  the  Synod  did  not  always  find  it  easy  to  escape 
conflict  with  the  sometimes  over-officious  English 
governors.  This  was  especially  true  in  the  Virginia 
Colony.  Mr.  Hugh  Stevenson  sent  the  Synod  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  severity  with  which  he  had  been 
treated  by  some  gentlemen  in  Virginia.  On  the  basis 
of  his  representation  earnest  application  was  made  in 
England  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Religion, 
for  money  to  help  to  maintain  some  itinerant  ministers 


THE   FIRST   SYNOD   AND    ITS    DIVISION.  85 

in  Virginia  and  elsewhere.  The  assistance  of  this 
society  was  sought  in  England  in  order  that  the 
Government  there  should  discourage  the  Colonial 
authorities  here  from  hampering  such  itinerant  minis- 
ters by  illegal  prosecutions.  John  Caldwell  and  many 
families  sought  to  settle  "  in  the  back  parts  of  Virginia." 


GYMNASIUM,    CENTER    COLLEGE,    DANVILLE,    KY. 

Synod  appointed  two  of  their  number  to  go  and  wait 
upon  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Virginia  to  "  procure 
the  favor  and  countenance  of  the  Governor  of  that 
province  to  the  laying  a  foundation  of  our  interests 
in  the  distant  parts  where  considerable  numbers  of 
families  of  our  persuasion  are  settled."  Synod  unani- 
mously allowed  out  of  "the  Fund"  a  sum  to  bear  the 
charges  of  the  brethren  ;  and  provision  was  made  also 
for  the  supply  of  their  congregations  during  their 
absence  while  prosecuting  that  affair.  No  definite  sum 
of  money  was  named,  but  the  brethren  were  allowed 


86  PRESBYTERIANS. 

discretionary  power  to  use  what  money  they  had 
occasion  for,  to  bear  their  expenses  in  a  manner  suitable 
to  this  design.  The  regions  which  are  thus  alluded  to 
as  the  "back  parts  of  Virginia"  seem  to  have  been,  not 
only  what  is  now  West  Virginia,  but  Shenandoah  Val- 
ley and  all  that  part  of  Western  Pennsylvania  of 
which  Pittsburg  is  the  center.  The  boundary  line 
between  the  colonies  was  not  run  until  many  years 
thereafter.  The  Scotch-Irish  settlers  of  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  and  of  Western  Pennsylvania  were  early  con- 
sidered as  all  belonging  to  Virginia. 

The  question  of  the  training  of  ministers  in  their  own 
territory  was  early  brought  before  Synod.  Andrews 
had  enjoyed  college  education  in  New  England  before 
he  came  to  Philadelphia.  Most  of  the  ministers  that 
emigrated  to  this  country  from  Ireland  and  Scotland 
were  graduates  of  the  institutions  there.  The  effort  to 
secure  help  from  the  Old  Country  to  support  ministers, 
and  ministers  to  supply  churches,  was  only  successful 
to  a  very  limited  degree.  It  was  evident  to  the  Synod 
that,  in  order  to  their  own  perpetuation,  it  was  essential 
that  they  should  raise  up  a  ministry  among  themselves. 
Quite  a  number  of  the  Irish  Presbyteries  began  to 
license  and  ordain  men  before  they  came  to  this  coun- 
try. These  ordinations  were  not  with  a  view  to  the 
settlement  of  the  candidates  in  churches  in  Ireland,  but 
were  only  for  the  purpose  of  sending  them  as  fully 
authorized  ministers  to  this  country.  This  course  was 
unsatisfactory  to  the  Synod;  and  in  1735  a  very  for- 
midable paper  was  passed  upon  the  whole  subject. 
The  essence  of  it  may  be  understood  from  the  follow- 
ing quotation  :  "  Seeing  we  are  likely  to  have  most  of 
our  supply  of  ministers  to  fill  our  vacancies,  from  the 


THE    FIRST   SYNOD   AND    ITS   DIVISION.  87 

North  of  Ireland,  and  seeing  it  is  too  evident  to  be 
denied  and  called  into  question,  that  we  are  in  great 
danger  of  being  imposed  upon  by  ministers  and 
preachers  from  thence,  though  sufficiently  furnished 
with   all   the   formalities  of  Presbyterian   credentials,  as 

incase  of  Mr.  ,  and  seeing  also  what  was  done  last 

year  may  be  done  next  year  and  the  year  following,  upon 

this  and   the  like  consideration,  Therefore "   After 

passing  four  other  resolutions  the  paper  proceeds, 
fifthly  :  "That  the  Synod  would  bear  testimony  against 
the  late  too  common  and  now  altogether  unnecessary 
practice  of  some  Presbyteries  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  viz.: 
the  ordaining  men  to  the  ministry  immediately  before 

they  come   hither The  Synod  do  now  advertise 

the  General  Synod  in  Ireland  that  the  ordaining  of  any 
such  to  the  ministry  before  sending  them  hither,  for  the 
future  will  be  very  disagreeable  and  disobliging  to  us." 
The  question  of  the  supply  and  the.  proper  education 
of  ministers  had  to  be  seriously  considered.  In  1739, 
an  overture  for  erecting  a  seminary  of  learning  was 
brought  in  and  Synod  unanimously  approved  the  design 
of  it,  and  in  order  to  accomplish  it  appointed  Messrs. 
Pemberton,  Dickinson,  Cross  and  Anderson,  to  go  to 
Europe,  if  possible,  to  prosecute  this  affair.  Synod 
also  appointed  correspondents  from  every  Presbytery 
to  meet  in  Philadelphia,  and  requested  Mr.  Pemberton 
to  go  to  Boston  to  push  the  enterprise,  and  directed 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York  to  supply  his  pulpit  during 
his  absence.  Then,  as  now,  various  places  sought  for 
the  location  of  the  institution,  and  opened  schools. 
Why  these  schools  succeeded  in  some  places  and  failed 
in  others,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  The  spirit  that 
is  now   among   our  missionaries  in  the   Foreign   F'ield 


88  PRESBYTERIANS. 

animated  the  brethren  then.  A  church  which  expects 
life  and  growth  must  raise  its  own  ministry  out  of  its 
own  midst.  Up  to  this  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  the  method  of  training-  ministers  had  been  for 
the  students  to  read  under  the  direction  of  some  pastor. 
But  pastors  were  overworked,  and  the  interruptions  of 
the  duties  of  an  instructor  by  funerals,  pastoral  calls, 
prayer  meetings  and  the  preparation  of  sermons  were 
such  as  to  make  the  work  quite  unsatisfactory.  All 
through  the  bounds  of  Synod,  therefore,  there  was  the 
deepest  anxiety  to  imitate  the  course  pursued  in  the 
Old  Country  and  in  New  England,  and  have  colleges 
and  universities  of  their  own  for  the  training  of  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry. 

The  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  a  time  of 
doctrinal  agitation  among  Protestants  throughout 
Europe  and  especially  among  the  Presbyterians  of  the 
British  Isles.  In  Scotland  the  Church  had  been  organ- 
ized by  the  adoption  of  definite  doctrinal  standards  and 
a  compact  system  of  government.  To  a  large  extent 
the  Westminster  system  was  assumed  as  adopted,  with- 
out formal  adoption,  in  England  and  Ireland.  During 
the  days  of  the  American  Presbytery,  from  i  706  to  1  71  7, 
and  the  earlier  years  of  the  first  Synod,  the  immigration 
to  this  country  was  from  the  midst  of  the  doctrinal 
discussions  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland.  The 
Irish,  or  Scotch-Irish  element  largely  predominated. 
Arianism,  or  the  denial  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
was  rapidly  creeping  into  the  English  Church  and 
making  lar^e  inroads  into  the  Irish  Church.  The 
leaders  of  the  "  Belfast  Society "  were  quite  aggres- 
sive, and  many  of  them  specifically  denied  the  doctrine 
of  Christ's  deity.      Others  were  extremely  tolerant  of 


THE    FIRST    SYNOD    AND    ITS    DIVISION.  89 

differences  of  opinion  on  such  fundamental  matters. 
There  were  really  three  parties  in  the  Irish  Church. 
One  insisted  on  requiring  all  ministers  and  elders 
to  subscribe  to  the  Confession  of  Faith.  Another 
strongly  resisted  all  suggestion  of  enforcing  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Confession.  Between  these  two  extremes 
there  was  the  usual  middle  party.  All  three  parties 
struggled  to  maintain  peace,  and  the  outcome  was  not 
altogether  satisfactory  to  either,  if,  indeed,  it  was  satis- 
factory to  any  individual  man.  The  discussions  led  to 
a  division  of  the  Irish  Synod  in  1726.  The  next  year, 
in  the  American  Synod,  a  suggestion  was  made  with 
reference  to  an  "  Adopting  Act  "  similar  to  that  of  the 
Irish  Synod.  This  was  no  doubt  inspired  by  the  Irish 
members,  as  they  participated  in  the  spirit  of  the  Irish 
discussions.  Many  of  the  ablest  ministers  at  Synod 
looked  upon  the  proposition  with  very  great  alarm  and 
disfavor.  The  ultimate  result  was  the  division  of  the 
Synod  in  1  741. 

It  can  hardly  be  said,  however,  that  this  division  was 
in  any  sense  due  to  doctrinal  differences.  Other  ques- 
tions were  mixed  up  with  the  discussion  as  it  progressed, 
and  personal  differences  on  other  questions  ran  along  the 
line  of  the  differences  touching  the  "  Adopting  Act."  In 
regard  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  there  was  no  pretense 
that  anybody  in  the  Synod  was  privately  out  of  sympathy 
with  either  the  Calvinism  of  the  Confession  or  the  Pres- 
byterianism  of  the  form  of  government.  Thequestibn 
of  education  for  the  ministry  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
it.  Man)-,  of  what  was  known  as  the  Old  Side,  were 
educated  in  Europe,  and  others  in  the  colleges  of  New 
England.  These  insisted  upon  a  very  thorough  min- 
isterial  education.       The   Tennents    (father    and    four 


90  PRESBYTERIANS. 

sons)  were  equally  anxious  for  a  proper  education  ;  but 
instead  of  doing  nothing  because  they  could  not  ac- 
complish the  impracticable,  insisted  upon  doing  the 
best  they  could  under  the  circumstances.  As  is  narrated 
in  the  chapter  on  Education,  William  Tennent,  Sr.,  had 
started  his  Log  College  at  Neshaminy  as  early  as  1726. 
In  it  were  educated  many  zealous  and  pious  young  men. 
His  Presbytery  was  disposed  to  license  these  men  ;  and 
as  fast  as  they  proved  themselves  efficient  preachers,  and 
secured  calls  to  any  of  the  churches,  to  give  them  ordi- 
nation also.  The  other  side  were  unwilling  to  accept 
the  education  given  in  "  the  Log  College"  without 
further  examination  by  Synod.  They  insisted  upon  the 
examination  of  candidates  for  the  ministry,  either  by 
Synod  itself  or  by  a  commission.  This  was  looked 
upon  as  hostility  to  the  Log  College  by  giving  oppor- 
tunity for  unfair  discrimination  against  and  unreason- 
able examination  of  Tennent's  students. 

Curiously  enough,  one  of  the  causes  of  the  division 
was  the  remarkable  revival  which  was  abroad  in  America 
about  this  time.  Early  in  the  century  the  state  of 
religion  had  been  extremely  low.  The  preaching  of 
the  ministry  was  dead  and  formal.  William  Tennent, 
Sr.,  was  a  man  of  earnest  piety  as  well  as  sound  the- 
ology. The  state  of  religion  rested  on  his  soul  as  a 
great  burden.  His  sons  partook  of  the  spirit  of  their 
father.  This  country  has  rarely,  if  ever,  had  a  more 
powerful  preacher  in  the  midst  of  revivals  than  Gilbert 
Tennent.  The  revivals  of  Whitefield  and  Wesley  were 
then  moving  Great  Britain.  Whitefield  was  in  this 
country  in  1739  an<^  was  visited  by  the  elder  Tennent 
in  Philadelphia  in  November,  and  that  same  month 
visited    the    Tennents    at   Neshaminy.     The   two  con- 


THE    FIRST    SYNOD    AND    ITS    DIVISION. 


9r 


ceived  a  oreat  admiration  and  fondness  for  each  other. 
The  only  description  extant  of  "  the  Log  College  "  is 
extracted  from  Whitefield's  diary,  But  that  revival 
was  accompanied  by  what  is  known  as  the  "  Falling 
Exercises."  These  exercises  were  matters  of  serious, 
if  not  bitter,  differences  of  opinion.      They  were    ex- 


McMILLAN  S    LOG   COLLEGE,    CANONSBUK(.,    PA. 


perienced  by  some,  who  accepted  these  "  exercises  "  as 
in  themselves  proofs  of  conversion.  Not  unfrequently 
some  of  these  went  back  to  their  worldliness  and  some 
to  their  excessive  wickedness.  In  other  cases  these 
exercises  came  upon  the  wildest  characters,  who  had 
come  to  the  revival  meetings  merely  to  oppose  and 
ridicule  them.  Many  such  cases,  by  years  of  subsequent 
pious  behavior,  proved  to  be  sound  conversions.  "  The 
Old  Side"  as  they  were  called,   held   up  the  spurious 


Q2  PRESBYTERIANS. 

conversions  as  proofs  that  the  work  at  large  was  not 
the  genuine  work  of  the  Spirit.  In  that  revival  the 
Tennents  were  prominent ;  and  the  name  of  the  "  Ten- 
nent  Revival "  was  given  to  it  in  view  of  their  activity 
and  leadership.  Their  friends  were  called  "  The  New 
Side."  By  them  the  widespread  awakening  of  the  public 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  the  quickening  of  the  life  of 
the  Church  and  the  numerous  genuine  conversions  were 
held  as  proving  that  the  whole  work  was  divine.  Years 
afterward  both  sides  came  to  see  that,  while  their 
facts  were  true,  their  conclusions  were  very  far  beyond 
the  reasons  furnished  for  them  in  the  facts.  It  was  no 
proof  that  the  spirit  of  God  was  not  present,  because 
the  devil  imitated  the  manifestations  of  divine  activity. 
The  permanent  and  widespread  beneficent  results  of 
the  revival  were  sources  of  sincere  gratification  to  those 
who  at  first  were  fearful  of  danger.  Even  Whitefield's 
earlier  ministry  was  marred  by  a  censorious  disposition 
toward  ministers  who  did  not  co-operate  with  him.  It 
was  only  human  that  ministers,  who  were  quite  effective 
in  revival  work,  should  speak  disparagingly  of  other 
excellent  men,  who  were  not  thus  blessed.  Gilbert 
Tennent,  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  revival,  was  spe- 
cially severe  upon  his  brethren.  One  famous  sermon, 
the  "  Nottingham  Sermon,"  was  looked  upon  as  a  very 
unjustifiable  attack  upon  other  ministers  and  the  Synod. 
In  his  later  years  he  himself  expressed  profound  regret 
at  the  severity  of  the  language  into  which  he  had  been 
betrayed  in  that  discourse. 

Coupled  with  this  revival  spirit  there  was  also  a  form 
of  missionating  which  induced  the  revival  ministers  to 
travel  from  place  to  place.  They  were  not  careful  to 
await  an  invitation  before  they  went   to  the  churches. 


THE   FIRST   SYNOD   AND   ITS   DIVISION.  93 

It  was  a  plausible  theory  that  revival  Evangelists  were 
bound,  in  seeking-  the  salvation  of  souls,  to  go  wherever 
they  could  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick,  to  which  the  Tennents  belonged,  was 
disposed  to  indorse  this  itinerating  practice.  That 
Presbytery  was  charged  with  having  appointed 
brethren  to  preach  in  vacant  churches  and  mission 
fields  within  the  bounds  of  other  Presbyteries. 
When  revivalists  came  into  a  church,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  denounce  part  of  the  congregation,  it 
was  to  be  expected  that  there  should  be  division  and 
harsh  language  among  the  people.  Sometimes  these  re- 
vivalists persisted  in  going  into  churches  notwithstand- 
ing the  objections  of  the  pastor.  The  Old  Side  insisted 
that  Synod  should  control  the  brethren,  and  rebuke 
Presbyteries  that  allowed  such  irregularities.  Many  of 
the  New  Side  insisted  upon  the  right  to  follow  out  what 
they  called  divine  leadings,  even  though  nobody  but 
themselves  were  able  to  understand  the  supposed  provi- 
dential indications.  It  was  a  difficult  time  for  even  the 
coolest  ministers  to  maintain  equanimity  of  feeling  and 
impartiality  of  judgment. 

When,  at  the  meeting  of  Synod  in  1 741 ,  the  question 
came  up  for  decision,  it  was  unfortunate  that  the  whole 
Presbytery  of  New  York  was  absent.  Many  of  the 
most  influential  ministers  belonged  to  that  Presbytery. 
Among  these  men  were  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Ebenezer 
Pemberton  and  John  Pierson.  Protests  had  been  en- 
tered by  each  side  against  the  behavior  of  the  other. 
At  the  opening  of  Synod  a  protest  against  the  right  of 
the  New  Brunswick  brethren  to  a  seat  in  the  Synod  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Robert  Cross,  associate  pastor  of 
Jedediah    Andrews  in    Philadelphia.       Each   preceding 


94  PRESBYTERIANS. 

year  there  had  been  debates,  and  several  attempts  at  ad- 
justing the  points  of  controversy.  Previous  to  this 
meeting  of  1 741,  the  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  had 
ordained  some  young  men,  who  had  not  been  examined 
by  Synod.  The  Old  Side  men,  under  the  lead  of  Mr. 
Cross,  protested  against  the  right  of  that  Presbytery  to 
a  seat,  if  these  new  members  were  to  be  included  on 
the  roll.  The  record  stands  that  at  this  point  there  was 
a  sharp  controversy  as  to  which  party  really  was  the 
Synod.  "  It  was  canvassed  by  the  former  protesting 
brethren  [this  is  a  statement  from  the  Minutes  of  1741, 
made  by  the  Old  Side  party]  whether  they  or  we  were 
to  be  looked  upon  as  the  Synod.  We  maintained  that 
they  had  no  right  to  sit,  whether  they  were  the  major  or 
minor  number.  Then  they  motioned  that  we  should 
examine  this  point,  and  that  the  major  number  was  the 
Synod.  They  were  found  to  be  the  minor  party,  and 
upon  this  they  withdrew."  The  record  then  goes  on 
"after  this  the  Synod  proceeded  to  business."  When 
the  count  was  proposed  each  party  believed  that  it  had 
the  majority.  The  count  is  not  given  but  probably  it 
resulted  twelve  to  ten.  The  number  of  each  party  was 
so  nearly  the  same  that  there  was  little  moral  weight 
in  the  decision.  When,  a  few  years  later,  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  York  joined  the  New  Brunswick  party  in 
the  formation  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  that  Synod 
at  once  became  the  laroer  of  the  two. 

The  Presbytery  of  New  York  set  about  an  effort  to 
reconcile  the  differences  and  secure  a  reunion.  That 
Presbytery  believed  that  the  exclusion  of  the  New 
Brunswick  brethren  by  a  simple  protest,  without  a  hear- 
ing and  without  a  trial,  was  uncalled  for  and  unconsti- 
tutional.    The  Old  Side,  in  the  reasons  given  by  them 


THE   FIRST   SYNOD   AND    ITS   DIVISION.  95 

for  their  action,  make  very  much  out  of  the  severity  of 
the  language  of  the  New  Brunswick  men.  The  Ten- 
nents  had  a  school  ;  and  if  their  Presbytery  saw  fit  to 
license  the  graduates  of  that  school  without  the  exam- 
ination required  by  Synod,  obviously  it  would  be  but  a 
little  while  until  the  Synod  would  be  revolutionized. 
Years  were  occupied  in  efforts  to  harmonize  the  differ- 
ences. Both  Synods  promptly  declared  their  adhesion 
to  the  Westminster  Standards.  A  little  experience  of 
the  evils  of  itinerant  evangelists,  dividing  churches 
where  their  services  were  not  wanted  by  the  pastor,  led 
the  New  York  Synod,  or  the  New  Side  party,  to 
adopt  as  decided  measures  to  prevent  "  the  intrusion  of 
ministers  into  fields  not  under  their  care,"  as  were 
adopted  by  the  Philadelphia  Synod,  or  the  Old  Side 
party.  As  the  years  went  on  the  severity  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  revivalist  ministers  became  very  much 
softened  down.  The  visit  to  the  Old  Country  of  Gil- 
bert Tennent  and  Samuel  Davies,  to  get  help  for  their 
college  at  Princeton,  gave  Mr.  Tennent  an  opportunity 
to  see  his  "  Nottingham  Sermon"  from  a  different  point 
of  view  from  that  which  he  had  occupied  when  it  was 
preached.  He  was  in  England  and  Scotland  begging- 
money,  and  his  "  Nottingham  Sermon  "  was  there  cir- 
culated to  his  serious  disadvantage  and  very  great  an- 
noyance. 

The  revival  greatly  increased  the  activity  of  the 
churches  which  were  visited  by  it  ;  and  such  churches, 
and  those  who  believed  in  them,  were  naturally 
disposed  to  identify  themselves  with  the  New  Bruns- 
wick part)'.  The  New  Side  part)'  thus  grew  more 
rapidly  than  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  or  the  Old  Side 
party.      Each  soon  saw  that  the  other  was  honestly  in- 


96  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tent  about  the  Master's  business.  A  comparatively  few 
years,  therefore,  accomplished  that  renewal  of  personal 
confidence,  that  softening  down  of  asperities,  and  that 
willingness  to  find  out  good  ways  of  harmony,  which 
are  always  the  sure  precursors  of  organic  reunion 
among  brethren  needlessly  divided. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Till-:    SYNODS    UNITED — PRESBYTERIANS    IN    THE    AMERICAN 

REVOLUTION. 

THROUGHOUT  the  whole  history  of  Presbyteri- 
anism  in  the  first  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  minis- 
ters and  people  were  conscious  that  they  were  "Dis- 
senters "  in  the  eye  of  the  English  law  and  the  English 
government.  Unsatisfied  with  Episcopal  worship  and 
English  bishops,  these  early  colonists  were  striving  to 
establish  in  the  American  wilderness  a  civilization  in 
which  the  exercise  of  Protestant  religion  would  be  un- 
trammeled  by  law.  The  more  complete  the  success  of 
their  chosen  Presbyterian  worship,  and  of  that  of  Bap- 
tists, Methodists,  Congregationalists,  Moravians,  Quak- 
ers and  others,  the  more  evident  it  became  that  state 
support  was  not  essential  to  religion.  As  large  congrega- 
tions with  able  ministers  multiplied  in  New  York,  Phil- 
adelphia and  the  other  cities,  and  throughout  the  rural 
districts,  and  flourished  financially,  and  grew  in  practical 
godliness,  the  more  confident  all  classes  of  Christians 
came  to  be  that  religion  needed  nothing  from  the  state 
but  protection  and  peace.  Unconsciously  dissenters 
grew  confident  of  their  success  and  strong  in  their  de- 
termination to  maintain  their  position.  Proportionately 
Episcopacy  grew  continually  weaker.  The  letters  from 
this  country,  about  the  freedom  from  state  interference 
and  the  peace  and  prosperity  enjoyed  by  churches  man- 
aged  by   their  own   officers,   carried  back   to    the   Old 

97 


98  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Country  glowing  accounts  for  the  encouragement  of 
immigration.  The  letters  from  the  Episcopal  ministers 
were  correspondingly  discouraging.  Their  letters  la- 
mented the  neglect  of  religion  on  the  part  of  dissent- 
ers, and  the  rapid  increase  of  Independent  churches. 
That  the  dissenters  under  these  circumstances  should 
increase  rapidly,  and  Episcopalians  increase  but  slowly, 
was  only  the  natural  course  of  events. 

Not  only  had  the  English  who  had  settled  in  America 
studied  the  English  form  of  government,  but  settlers 
from  the  Continent  were  equally  familiar  with  it.  In 
the  eyes  of  Continental  Protestantism,  England,  as  the 
representative  nation  of  the  Protestant  cause,  was  a 
special  object  of  admiration.  In  that  English  nation  for 
centuries  the  liberties  and  rights  of  the  people  had  been 
from  time  to  time  acquired  and  enforced  by  resistance  to 
arbitrary  government.  Magna  Charta  had  been  wrung 
from  King  John.  The  Wars  of  the  Roses  were  con- 
flicts toward  settling,  by  the  support  of  the  people,  the 
right  of  inheritance  to  the  English  Crown.  These 
wars  had  ended  in  the  heir  of  the  Red  Rose  marrying 
the  heiress  of  the  White  Rose.  When  Edward  VI. 
died  it  was  a  question  of  popular  support  whether  Mary 
Tudor  or  Lady  Jane  Grey  should  come  to  the  throne. 
For  want  of  popular  support  Lady  Jane  Grey  was  be- 
headed. The  question  of  the  succession  was  substan- 
tially passed  upon  by  Parliament  when  Elizabeth  died 
and  James  I.,  the  son  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  as- 
cended the  throne.  The  struggle  between  Charles  I. 
and  his  Parliament  was  carried  on  to  settle  the  right  of 
the  throne  to  raise  money  which  had  not  been  voted 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people.  The  establish- 
ment  of  the   English  Commonwealth  was   simply  the 


THE   SYNODS   UNITED.  99 

successful  assertion  by  the  people  of  the  right  of  resist- 
ance to  an  unreasonable  monarch.  On  the  one  hand 
Cromwell's  Protectorate  demonstrated  that  a  powerful 
and  successful  government  could  be  carried  on  without 
a  legitimate  king.  On  the  other  hand  the  failure  of 
Richard  Cromwell  in  carrying  on  that  successful  Com- 
monwealth discouraged  the  people  regarding  repub- 
lican government.  With  the  Restoration,  under  Charles 
II.,  the  pendulum  swung  back  in  England  from  pop- 
ular government  far  in  the  direction  of  absolutism. 
But  the  control  of  the  people  reasserted  itself  when  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  in  1688,  overthrew  King  James. 
On  the  death  of  Anne,  1714,  King  George  of  Hanover 
came  to  the  throne  as  a  Protestant ;  and  in  Conti- 
nental Europe,  the  British  Islands  and  America,  he 
was  looked  upon  as  the  representative  of  toleration. 
In  apparent  pursuance  of  that  policy  he  put  his  govern- 
ment entirely  into  the  hands  of  Whigs,  and  declared  he 
never  would  accept  any  but  members  of  that  party  as 
members  of  his  administration.  That  declaration 
startled  his  Whig  friends  almost  as  much  as  it  did  his 
Tory  enemies.  On  the  king's  part  it  was  a  declaration 
of  a  purpose  arbitrarily  to  carry  out  the  royal  will. 
Quite  promptly  the  English  people  and  their  House  of 
Commons  began  to  refuse  obedience,  and  insist  on  the 
ritrht  of  the  nation  to  have  Tories  or  Whigs  accord- 
ing  to  their  pleasure,  regardless  of  the  king's  will. 

With  such  contests  going  on  in  the  mother  country 
under  the  eyes  of  the  Protestant  world,  in  matters 
affecting  the  national  policy,  it  would  be  incomprehensi- 
ble if  the  American  people  did  not  acquire  the  habit 
of  gaining  their  own  way  by  resisting  unreasonable 
governors.     The  grounds  of  resistance  varied  in  differ- 


100  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ent  colonies,  and  changed  with  the  changes  in  the 
governors  representing  the  mother  country.  Generally 
the  points  of  conflict  touched  the  question  of  the  assess- 
ment of  taxes  or  the  collection  and  expenditure  of 
them.  The  metropolis  of  the  country  then,  as  now, 
was  fixed  at  New  York  by  reasons  of  physical  geog- 
raphy. There  were  three  kinds  of  colonies.  Some  of 
the  colonies  had  charters  granted  by  the  English 
crown  and  confirmed  by  Parliamentary  action.  Some 
were  Proprietary  colonies  where  someone  like  William 
Penn  held  title  under  the  King  and  over  the  colony. 
Such  colonies  corresponded  to  the  domains  of  English 
lords  in  the  Old  Country.  Others  were  royal  colonies, 
and  theoretically  were  subject  to  the  King  by  the 
philosophy  of  the  Feudal  system.  In  this  last  there 
were  no  Parliamentary  charters  to  appeal  to,  but  the 
governors  represented  the  arbitrariness  and  uncertainty 
of  the  royal  will.  New  York  was  one  of  these  royal 
colonies,  and  Mr.  Bancroft,  in  his  history  (vol.  ii, 
chap.  29)  gives  a  very  suggestive  description  of  Lord 
Cornbury  and  his  eminent  service  to  the  cause  of  free- 
dom by  his  administration  of  the  governorship  of  that 
colony.  Cornbury  will  be  remembered  as  the  governor 
who  arrested  Francis  Makemie  for  preaching  in  Mr. 
Jackson's  house  in  New  York,  and  was  with  disgrace 
defeated  in  his  efforts  to  get  the  jury  to  convict 
Makemie  of  crime  when  he  had  done  no  wrong.  Corn- 
bury's  predecessor  in  the  governorship  was  Bellomont, 
of  whom  this  promise  is  on  record  :  "  I  will  pocket 
none  of  the  public  money  myself,  nor  shall  there  be 
any  embezzlement  by  others."  Under  him  the  House 
of  Representatives  voted  a  revenue  for  six  years  and 
placed  it    at  the  disposition   of  the  governor.      Of  his 


THE    SYNODS    UNITED.  IOI 

successor,  Mr.  Bancroft  says  :  "  Lord  Cornbury — 
happily  for  New  York — had  every  vice  of  character 
necessary  to  discipline  a  colony  into  self-reliance  and 
resistance.  Educated  at  Geneva,  he  yet  loved  Episco- 
pacy as  a  religion  of  state  subordinate  to  executive 
power.  Of  the  same  family  with  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, brother-in-law  to  a  King  whose  services  he  had 
betrayed,  the  grandson  of  a  Prime  Minister,  himself  an 
heir  to  an  earldom,  destitute  of  the  virtues  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, he  illustrated  the  worst  form  of  aristocratic 
arrogance  joined  to  intellectual  imbecility.  Of  about 
forty  years  of  age,  with  self-will  and  the  pride  of  rank 
for  his  counselors,  without  fixed  principles,  with- 
out perception  of  political  truth,  he  stood  among  the 
mixed  people  of  New  Jersey  and  New  York  as  their 
governor."  Certain  moneys  had  been  appropriated  to 
fortify  the  "  Narrows,  and  for  no  other  use  whatever." 
But  Lord  Cornbury  cared  little  for  the  limitations  of  a 
provincial  assembly.  The  money  by  his  warrant  dis- 
appeared from  the  treasury,  while  the  "  Narrows"  were 
left  defenseless.  The  Assembly  then  solicited  from  the 
Queen  a  treasurer  of  its  own  appointment  :  and  asserted 
''the  rights  of  the  House."  Lord  Cornbury  answered  : 
"  I  know  of  no  right  that  you  have  as  an  Assembly,  but 
such  as  the  Queen  is  pleased  to  allow  you."  By  the 
Queen  he  meant  her  representative,  himself.  But  the 
firmness  of  the  Assembly  won  its  victory  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  treasurer  to  take  charge  of  the  extraordinary 
supplies.  "  In  the  affairs  relating  to  religion,"  says  Mr. 
Bancroft,  "  Lord  Cornbury  was  equally  imperious  ;  dis- 
puting the  rights  of  ministers  or  school-teachers  to 
exercise  their  vocations  without  his  license.  His  long- 
undetected   forgery   of  a  standing  instruction   in  favor 


102  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  the  English  Church  led  only  to  acts  of  petty  tyranny, 
useless  to  English  interests,  degrading  the  royal  pre- 
rogative and  benefiting  the  people  by  compelling  their 
active  vigilance."  The  power  of  the  people  redressed 
their  grievances.  Twice  Cornbury  dissolved  the  Assem- 
bly. The  third  which  he  convened  proved  how  rapidly 
the  political  education  of  the  people  had  advanced. 
The  rights  of  the  people  with  regard  to  taxation,  to 
courts  of  law  and  to  officers  of  the  Crown,  were  asserted 
with  an  energy  to  which  the  government  could  offer  no 
resistance.  "  Subdued  by  the  colonial  legislature,  and 
as  disspirited  as  he  was  indigent,  he  submitted  to  the 
ignominy  of  reproof,  and  thanked  the  Assembly  for  the 
simplest  acts  of  justice."  "  Lord  Cornbury  fulfilled 
his  mission,  and  more  successfully  than  any  patriot  he 
had  taught  New  York  the  necessity  and  the  methods  of 
incipient  resistance."  With  his  successor,  Lord  Love- 
lace, in  1709,  the  Crown  demanded  a  permanent  revenue 
without  specific  appropriations.  New  York  hence- 
forward resolved  to  raise  only  an  annual  revenue,  and 
name  their  own  treasurer. 

The  same  kind  of  a  struggle  between  the  Provincial 
Assemblies  and  the  royal  government  went  on  else- 
where. In  Massachusetts  it  was  largely  a  question  of 
the  rights  of  manufacturers.  Almost  every  new  gov- 
ernor, within  a  few  months  after  his  arrival,  was  in  a 
conflict  with  his  Assembly.  Complaints  were  made  that 
the  products  of  the  colonies  were  manufactured  for  use 
in  their  own  territories.  This  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  manufacturers  in  England.  The  colonial  citizens 
elected  no  members  to  Parliament,  and,  therefore,  no 
ministry  had  a  direct  interest  in  conciliating  them  for 
the  sake  of  their  votes.     The  English  manufacturers 


THE   SYNODS    UNITED.  I03 

had  representatives  in  Parliament  and  English  political 
parties  needed  their  votes  very  urgently.  The  English 
desire  to  conquer  Canada  made  additional  soldiers  from 
the  colonies,  and  additional  funds  for  war  expenses,  ex- 
tremely needful.  Here  was  a  good  chance  to  insist  on 
their  rights,  and  enforce  them  in  the  midst  of  the  ex- 
tremities  of  the  English  government.  In  one  way  or 
another  the  English  government  and  its  American  gov- 
ernors were  compelled  to  yield. 

At  this  time  the  rights  of  the  colonies  as  well  as  the 
rights  of  the  King  and  Parliament  were  very  indefinite. 
Whether  any  serious  change  in  the  result  could  have  been 
secured  by  some  American  Magna  Charta,  specifically 
defining  all  these,  may  well  be  doubted.  After  being  de- 
fined there  would  come  the  task  of  interpretation.  The 
House  of  Commons  in  Great  Britain  was  ready  enough 
to  insist  upon  refusing  supplies  for  the  King  when  it 
wished  to  enforce  its  own  authority  ;  but  when  the 
Colonial  Assemblies  undertook  by  the  same  kind  of 
measures  to  enforce  their  rights  against  the  mother 
country,  Parliament  was  by  no  means  ready  to  maintain 
its  consistency  at  the  expense  of  its  own  pocket. 
Throughout  all  ages  men's  opinions  have  been  affected 
with  regard  to  legal  rights  by  so  simple  a  question  as 
whether  their  ox  is  gored  or  the  ox  of  their  neighbor. 
Frequent  successful  conflicts,  throughout  the  colonial 
period,  brought  the  colonists  up  to  the  questions  which 
were  under  discussion  between  England  and  America 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  a  very 
certain  conviction  that  Englishmen  had  a  right  to  resist 
the  government,  if  there  were  enough  of  them  who 
agreed  to  make  their  combined  resistance  sufficient  to 
carry  their  point.      It  had  been  thus  between  the   Eng- 


104  PRESBYTERIANS. 

lish  people,  their  Parliament  and  their  King,  hereto- 
fore, and  has  been  so  ever  since.  What  is  needed  in 
any  such  conflict  is  unity,  with  numbers. 

Episcopacy  was  the  state  Church  in  Virginia,  and  in  a 
certain  sense  also  in  New  York.  In  many  of  the  towns 
of  New  England  Congregationalism  was  officially  recog- 
nized. When  a  form  of  religion  is  adopted  by  the  state, 
substantially  three  things  occur.  Taxes  are  levied  for  it 
on  all  persons.  The  ministers  of  religion  are  paid  their 
salaries  out  of  the  proceeds  of  these  taxes.  The  ap- 
pointment of  the  ministers,  thus  supported,  is  a  part  of 
the  duty  of  the  government.  Ecclesiastical  and  theo- 
logical tests  are,  therefore,  applied  in  the  determination 
of  the  qualifications  of  the  persons  who  shall  vote  or 
hold  office.  Where  there  is  a  state  denomination,  other 
denominations  may  be  persecuted  or  they  may  not. 
Their  worship  may  be  allowed  or  disallowed.  No  prac- 
tice ever  prevailed  during  colonial  times  in  this  country 
where  a  state  Church  gained  more  than  favoritism  for 
the  chosen  sect.  The  infliction  of  pains  and  penalties 
on  ministers  or  members  of  other  sects  was  generally 
the  personal  crime  of  the  executive  officers,  rather  than 
the  injustice  of  legislative  enactments. 

With  all  the  pressure  in  England  in  favor  of  an 
Episcopal  establishment  for  the  perpetuation  here  of 
English  authority,  it  is  not  remarkable  that  the  Epis- 
copalians in  the  colonies  were  undisguisedly  anxious 
for  such  a  church  establishment  in  this  country.  Fre- 
quent petitions  were  sent  over  to  England  for  the 
appointment  of  diocesan  bishops  in  this  country,  as  in 
England.  Over  and  over  again  boasts  were  made  that 
such  an  establishment  was  certain  to  come  in  the  not 
distant  future.      As  early   as   1703    Governor  Johnson 


THE   SYNODS   UNITED.  105 

of  South  Carolina  had,  by  a  close  vote,  carried  through 
the  provincial  legislature  a  law  making  the  Episcopal 
Church  the  established  Church.  The  leading  opponent 
was  Archibald  Stobo,  a  Presbyterian  pastor  in  Charles- 
ton. No  minister  in  the  colony  had  so  universally  en- 
grossed public  favor,  and  the  governor  resorted  to 
the  weapons  of  slander  and  other  malignant  arts  to 
break  down  his  character.  As  early  as  i  748  overtures 
were  made  to  some  of  the  leading  clergymen  of  New 
England  to  aid  in  introducing  State  Episcopacy  by 
accepting  bishoprics.  The  bribe  held  out  was  promptly 
spurned.  The  projects  of  the  British  ministry  in  this 
direction  were  scarcely  ever  disguised.  There  was  thus 
grave  reason  for  apprehension  in  this  direction.  The 
mere  knowledge  of  this  threatened  danger  tended 
strongly  to  unite  the  Puritan  element  among  all 
denominations,  and  especially  to  bring  together  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  Conoreoationalists  in  combined 
efforts  for  the  cause  of  religious  freedom. 

In  1766  a  convention  was  held  at  Elizabeth,  N.  J. 
It  was  composed  of  representatives  from  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  adopted  a 
plan  of  union  between  them.  The  object  of  this  con- 
vention was  both  Christian  and  patriotic.  While  civil 
liberty  was  threatened  by  Stamp  Acts,  a  project  for 
Episcopal  ascendency  in  the  colonies  was  believed  to 
be  resolutely  cherished  by  the  Episcopalian  leaders. 
The  convention  was  to  meet  annually,  and  had  as  its 
avowed  object  "to  gain  information  of  their  united 
cause  and  interest,  to  collect  accounts  relating  thereto, 
to  unite  their  endeavors  and  counsel  for  spreading  the 
Gospel  and  preserving  the  religious  liberty  of  the 
Churches,  and  to  vindicate  the  loyalty  and  reputation 


I06  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  the  Churches  therein  represented."  The  Episcopal 
clergy  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  petitioned  for  the 
episcopate,  and  pleaded  that  nearly  one  million  of  the 
inhabitants  desired  it.  Americans  in  England  were 
openly  told  that  bishops  should  be  settled  in  America 
in  spite  of  the  Presbyterian  opposition.  The  year  of 
the  Elizabeth  convention  a  voluntary  Episcopal  con- 
vention was  held,  and  the  aforementioned  petition  was 
forwarded  to  England  in  its  name.  Dr.  Chandler  was 
requested  to  write  an  appeal  to  the  public  in  favor  of 
the  project.  This  appeal  was  published  in  1767,  and 
was  at  once  ably  answered  by  Dr.  Charles  Chauncey  of 
Boston.  This  began  the  active  newspaper  controversy. 
In  the  conflict  between  the  colonies  and  England  the 
Episcopalians  were,  for  the  most  part,  ultra-loyal.  This 
fact  reacted  upon  the  minds  of  the  Presbyterians  and 
others,  and  made  a  general  impression  of  the  hostility 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  the  colonial  cause.  This 
struggle  pointed  plainly  toward  the  necessity  of  unity 
among  all  those  who  were  opposed  to  Parliamentary 
taxation  for  the  benefit  of  the  Episcopalian  Church. 
It  is  supposed  that  the  first  suggestion  of  union  may 
have  been  the  sermon  of  Dr.  Mayhew  of  Boston,  at  an 
interdenominational  communion  in  his  church.  The 
next  day  Dr.  Mayhew  met  Samuel  Adams  and  said  : 
"  We  have  just  had  a  communion  of  the  Churches  ;  now 
let  us  have  a  union  of  the  States." 

In  1754  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  different 
colonies  was  held  at  Albany,  with  special  reference  to 
the  war  between  England  and  the  French  and  Indians. 
At  that  Albany  convention  the  representatives  of  the 
six  Indian  nations  sneered  at  the  division  among  the 
colonists   and    lack    of    energy.       To   that    convention 


THE    SYNODS    UNITK1).  107 

Benjamin  Franklin  had  come  with  a  project  of  union 
among  the  colonies  for  their  mutual  strengthening-.  By 
that  project,  "  the  King  was  to  name  and  support  a 
governor  general,  and  the  colonies  for  their  legislation 
were  to  elect  triennially  a  grand  council."  Franklin 
carried  his  project  "  pretty  unanimously."  "  It  was  not 
altogether  to  my  mind,  hut  it  was  as  I  could  get  it." 
The  scheme  failed,  owing  to  the  opposition  thereto 
both  in  Great  Britain  and  in  America.  The  colonists 
were  jealous  of  each  other  and  of  any  central  power. 
In  England,  American  union  was  dreaded  as  a  key-stone 
to  independence.  In  the  mind  of  Franklin  the  project 
enlarged  to  comprehend  two  additional  colonies  west  of 
the  Appalachian  mountains,  one  on  Lake  Erie  and  the 
other  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio. 

This  mingling  of  religious  and  political  questions 
greatly  strengthened  the  public  sentiment  for  union 
among  the  denominations  as  well  as  among  the  colonies. 
Politico-religious  sermons  were  early  introduced  into 
New  England.  As  early  as  1633,  the  Governor  and 
Council  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony  began  to  ap- 
point one  of  the  clergy  to  preach  on  the  day  of  election. 
These  "  election  sermons  "  came  to  be  annual  affairs 
like  Thanksgiving  days.  Even  more  than  the  modern 
Thanksgiving  sermon  these  "election  sermons"  dealt 
with  political  matters  and  public  affairs.  Edmund 
Burke,  in  1  775,  said  of  them  they  "  contributed  no  mean 
part  toward  the  growth  of  the  untractable  spirit  of  the 
colonies."  These  sermons  widely  promoted  the  study 
of  political  ethics,  and  John  Ouincy  Adams  called  the 
American  Revolution  the  ripe  fruitage  of  this  old  cus- 
tom. The  last  Wednesday  in  May  was  established  as 
election    day,  and   remained   so   until    the    Revolution, 


108  PRESBYTERIANS. 

On  May  17,  1776,  Dr.  Witherspoon  preached  a  sermon 
in  which  he  entered  fully  into  the  great  political  question 
of  the  day.  The  sermon  was  on  "  The  Dominion  of 
Providence  over  the  Passions  of  Men,"  and  it  was 
afterward  published  and  dedicated  to  John  Hancock. 
Though  the  day  on  which  it  was  first  preached  was  a  day 
appointed  by  Congress  as  one  of  fasting,  its  character  was 
similar  to  the  New  England  "election  day  sermons"; 
and  at  the  time  he  preached  it,  Witherspoon  was  a 
member  elect  of  the  provincial  Congress  of  New  Jersey, 
and  the  next  month  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress  from  the  State  of  New  Jersey. 

It  is  possible  that  this  collocation  of  events  may  seem 
to  overestimate  the  influence  of  the  political  trouble 
of  the  period  in  promoting,  through  the  decade  from 
1750  to  1760,  the  sentiment  for  reunion  among 
the  members  of  the  divided  Synod.  The  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  which  had  been  absent  when  the  division 
took  place,  had  always  greatly  deprecated  it,  believed 
both  sides  were  measurably  in  the  wrong,  and  always 
strove  earnestly  to  secure  the  reunion.  For  several 
years  the  New  York  brethren  attended  the  Old  Side 
Synod,  hoping  to  effect  a  reconciliation.  In  this  they  were 
disappointed.  They  insisted  that  the  excluded  breth- 
ren were  still  properly  members  of  Synod.  The  Old 
Side  insisted  that  they  were  not,  until  they  should  agree 
to  cease  ordaining  insufficiently  educated  men,  or 
intruding  into  the  congregations  of  other  pastors  for 
evangelistic  purposes.  The  New  Side,  or  New  Bruns- 
wick brethren,  would  not  yield  their  right  to  judge  for 
themselves  what  men  they  should  ordain,  and  where 
they  should  preach.  Believing  that  the  rights  of  min- 
isters and  Presbyteries  were  overthrown  by  the  course 


THE    SYNODS    UNI']  II'. 


IO9 


of  the  Old  Side  brethren,  the  New  York  men  withdrew 
and  joined  the  New  Side 


This  gave  that  side  three 


V.     M.    C.     A.     HALL,     HAMILTON    COLLEGE,    'LINTON,    N.    Y. 

Presbyteries  ;  and  so  enough  to  form  a  Synod  of  their 


own. 


These  three  Presbyteries — New  Brunswick,  New  Cas- 
tle, and  New  York — met  at  Elizabethtown  in  Septem- 
ber, 1745,  and  organized  themselves  as  the  Synod  ot 
New  York.      Jonathan  Dickinson   was   chosen    modem- 


110  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tor,  and  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  clerk.  These  were  two 
of  the  ablest  men  given  to  the  Church  at  any  period  of 
her  history.  There  were  present  from  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  nine  ministers  ;  from  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick,  nine  ministers,  and  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  Castle,  four  ministers  ;  altogether,  twenty- 
two  ministers,  with  twelve  elders.  Though  the  contro- 
versy in  the  old  Synod  had  been  in  regard  to  the 
"  Adopting  Act,"  and  the  members  of  this  Synod  had 
been  among  the  number  of  those  who  objected  thereto, 
it  was  not  because  of  their  lack  of  faith  in  the  West- 
minster Confession,  or  form  of  government.  In 
organizing  the  Synod,  and  before  they  elected  a  mod- 
erator, they  considered  and  passed  a  paper  declaring 
their  adoption  of  the  Westminster  Standards,  and,  in- 
deed, substantially  the  entire  "Adopting  Act"  of  1729. 
This  Synod  of  New  York  was  the  party  that  believed 
in  the  genuineness  of,  and  energetically  promoted  the 
"  great  revival"  of  that  era.  This  drew  to  them  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  general  public,  and  rapidly  increased  the 
membership  of  their  churches  and  the  fervor  of  their 
ministers.  The  Tennents  had  been  the  active  friends 
and  laborious  followers  of  Whitefield.  They  and  their 
fellow-members  had  been  diligent  in  the  education  of 
pious  and  gifted  men.  They  had  been  especially  zeal- 
ous in  urging  the  examination  of  candidates  on  experi- 
mental religion,  while  the  Old  Side  ministers  had  been 
insisting  upon  examination  as  to  literary  attainments. 
The  minutes  of  the  first  meeting  of  this  Synod  of 
New  York  are  comparatively  brief,  and  bear  evidence 
of  the  anxiety  of  the  brethren  to  heal  the  breach  in  the 
Presbyterian  Zion.  The  Philadelphia  Synod  could 
scarcely  ask  a  more  definite  and  explicit  declaration  in 


THE    SYNODS    UNITED.  Ill 

favor  of  unity  among-  the  congregations  and  fidelity  on 
the  part  of  the  ministers,  and  submissiveness  on  the 
part  of  the  minorities,  than  are  to  be  found  in  the  min- 
utes of  this  Synod  of  New  York.  That  Synod,  with 
its  revival  spirit  and  missionary  activity,  grew  rapidly 
as  compared  with  the  slower  growth  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia.  The  small  number  of  additions  to  its 
ministerial  roll  from  the  Old  Country,  or  from  new 
licentiates,  may  have  had  a  great  influence  in  bringing 
this  Synod  of  Philadelphia  into  a  frame  of  mind  in  har- 
mony with  that  unity  which  was  developing  among  the 
colonies  and  denominations  throughout  the  land.  The 
two  Synods,  as  well  as  the  colonies,  were  being  united 
through  discipline  and  suffering. 

The  questions  which  had  to  be  settled,  as  prelimi- 
naries to  reunion,  touched  first  the  responsibility  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  for  the  adoption  of  the  Protest ; 
second,  the  question  of  the  adoption  of  the  Westmin- 
ter  Standards  ;  third,  the  right  of  Presbyteries  to  license 
and  ordain  candidates  according  to  their  own  mind, 
without  supervision  from  the  other  Presbyteries  when 
convened  in  Synod  ;  fourth,  the  readjustment  of  Presby- 
terial  and  congregational  lines  where  conareo-ations  or 
Presbyteries  had  divided ;  fifth,  the  genuineness  of  the 
Spirit's  work  in  the  revival,  and  lastly,  the  right  of  min- 
isters to  judge  of  each  other  and  express  publicly  their 
opinion  of  each  other's  piety,  irrespective  of  Presbyterial 
investigation.  After  the  division,  the  subject  of  reunion 
was  never  dismissed  from  consideration  at  the  Synods. 
Each  successive  year  proposals  were  made,  communi- 
cations interchanged  or  conference  committees  ap- 
pointed. On  some  of  the  points  of  supposed  difference 
harmony  was   easily    reached.       Both   sides  agreed  to 


112  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  Westminster  Standards  ;  both  agreed  that  it  was 
improper  for  ministers  who  doubted  the  genuineness  of 
the  religion  of  their  brethren  to  express  their  doubts 
otherwise  than  through  Presbyterial  charges.  The 
Philadelphia  Synod  yielded  to  the  earnest  desire  of  the 
New  York  men  that  a  declaration  should  be  made  that 
a  "  great  work  of  grace  had  been  carried  on  during  the 
revival."  The  two  points  upon  which  greatest  difficulty 
was  found  in  securing  agreement  were  the  questions 
of  the  responsibilities  of  the  Philadelphia  Synod  for  the 
Protest,  and  the  method  of  readjusting  Presbyterial  and 
congregational  lines  so  as  to  prevent  future  controversy. 
The  Protest  question  was  finally  settled  by  a  restate- 
ment of  the  fact  that  the  Philadelphia  Synod  had  never 
by  any  official  act  adopted  the  Protest.  This  left  the 
Protest  as  the  act  of  the  signers  and  not  of  the  Synod. 
All  agreed  that  the  division  of  congregations  and  the 
maintenance  of  two  Presbyteries  on  the  "elective  affinity  " 
principle  were  undesirable  on  the  same  territory,  yet  to 
compel  union  at  once  was  likely  to  make  matters  worse. 
The  union  was  finally  agreed  upon  without  disturbing 
old  lines.  It  was  the  expectation  that  the  result  would 
work  out  (as  it  did)  in  frequent  reunions  of  divided 
churches  and  ultimate  readjustment  of  Presbyterial  lines 
without  excessive  friction. 

In  May,  1768,  the  two  Synods  met  in  Philadelphia, 
and  their  commissions,  as  a  joint  committee,  had  agreed 
upon  a  plan  for  union.  This  plan  was  separately  con- 
sidered and  approved  by  each  Synod.  On  the  29th  day 
of  May  they  came  together  as  one  Synod,  and  elected 
Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  moderator,  and  Mr.  McDowell 
clerk.  The  name  of  the  united  Synod  was  fixed  as 
"The  Synod  of    New  York  and    Philadelphia."     The 


THE    SYNODS   UNITED.  113 

basis  of  union  is  the  first  paper  recorded  in  their  min- 
utes. The  roll  gives  as  present,  ministers  42  and 
elders  14.  The  division  between  the  two  Synods  had 
thus  lasted  seventeen  years.  With  the  reunion  came 
a  period  of  very  decided  growth  and  energetic  work. 
So  nearly  as  can  now  be  ascertained,  there  were  then 
in  the  whole  Church  98  ministers,  about  200  churches, 
and  about  10,000  church  members.  Exact  statistics 
were  not  then  kept.  Shortly  after  this  reunion  several 
new  Presbyteries  were  organized  as  follows  :  The  sec- 
ond Philadelphia  in  1762  ;  Carlisle  in  r  765  ;  Lancaster, 
1765;  Dutchess,  N.  Y.,  1  766  ;  Redstone,  1  781.  1111755 
the  Synod  of  New  York  had  organized  the  Presbytery 
of  Hanover,  Va.  That  was  a  mother  of  Presbyteries. 
Out  of  its  territory,  as  first  assigned,  came  in  1785  the 
Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  and  in  1786  the  Presbyteries 
of  Lexington  and  Transylvania.  The  Hanover  Pres- 
bytery was  originally  a  Mission  Presbytery  covering 
Virginia,  the  two  Carolinas,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
Appointments  were  constantly  made  of  leading  men  to 
make  missionary  tours  through  this  region  of  the  South 
and  the  far  West ;  and  the  annual  meetings  of  the 
Synod  were  much  occupied  with  hearing  reports  of  the 
missionary  tours  of  the  year  preceding,  and  planning 
for  similar  tours  for  the  year  to  come. 

The  work  of  the  Church,  from  the  reunion  in  1758  to 
the  opening  of  the  war  in  1775,  was  seriously  impeded 
by  the  political  distractions  and  excitement  in  the 
country.  The  English  officials  and  their  Tory  friends 
laid  a  large  portion  of  the  blame  of  the  insubordination 
of  the  people  upon  the  Presbyterians.  The  Presbyte- 
rians of  Scotland  and  Ireland  had  been  leaders  in  resist- 
ing English  religious  oppression.     The  reputation  of 


114  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Presbyterians,  therefore,  in  the  Old  Country  was  that 
of  a  people  who  would  not  readily  submit  to  oppression 
by  monarchial  authority.  Peter  Van  Schaak,  in  1769, 
used  these  exultant  words  :  "  The  election  in  New  York 
City  is  ended,  and  the  Church  is  triumphant  in  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  of  the  Presbyterians.  The  Presbyterians 
think  they  have,  as  a  religious  body,  everything  to  dread 
from  the  power  of  the  Church."  This  fairly  expressed 
the  feeling  of  both  sides.  The  Presbyterians  did  dread 
the  persecuting  power  of  the  English  Church  through 
the  government  ;  and  the  English  government  dreaded 
the  Presbyterians  as  ringleaders  in  resistance.  For  the 
English  soldiery  to  hear  a  household  or  a  body  of  men 
singing  "  Rouse's  Psalms  "  was  sufficient  proof  of  the 
insubordinate  character  of  the  singers.  In  Mecklen- 
burg County,  at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  this  Presbyterian 
spirit  of  self-government  took  a  definite  form  thirteen 
months  before  the  National  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. The  region  was  remote  from  the  center  of  gov- 
ernment, and  if  the  English  colonial  governors  were 
not  to  enforce  their  high-handed  notions,  these  moun- 
taineers must  have  some  government  of  their  own  pro- 
duction. The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  was  dated  May 
31,  1775.  It  was  both  a  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  a  system  of  local  government  to  take  the  place 
of  the  disowned  English  government.  It  answered  as 
"  Articles  of  Confederation,"  as  well  as  a  declaration. 
This  declaration  took  the  peculiar  form  of  accepting  the 
address  of  Parliament  to  the  King  "  declaring  the  col- 
onies to  be  in  a  state  of  actual  rebellion  "  as  "  annulling 
and  vacating  the  authority  of  the  King."  "All  former 
laws,"  they  declared,  "are  now  suspended  in  this  Prov- 
ince, and  whatever  person  shall  hereafter  attempt  to  ex- 


THE   SYNODS   UNITED.  1 1  $ 

ercise  any  commission  from  the  Crown  shall  be  deemed 
an  enemy  to  his  country." 

The  convention  was  presided  over  by  Archibald 
Alexander,  a  Presbyterian  elder.  Another  elder,  Dr. 
Ephraim  Brevard,  was  the  secretary.  In  that  conven- 
tion there  were  nine  elders,  and  almost  all  the  rest  were 
connected  with  the  seven  Presbyterian  churches  of  the 
country.  Rev.  Hezekiah  K.  Balch,  the  pastor  of  one 
of  these  churches,  made  an  address.  The  Declaration 
was  written  out  by  a  law  student,  Dr.  Brevard's  nephew, 
Mr.  Adam  Brevard,  who  says  they  took  the  Confession 
of  Faith  as  a  guide  in  preparing  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment adopted  with  the  Declaration.  Wheeler's  "  Remi- 
nisences  of  North  Carolina,"  vol.  i,  quotes  the  plan  of  gov- 
ernment in  full.  Mr.  Bancroft  is  wholly  just,  therefore, 
in  his  statement  in  relation  to  this  Mecklenburg  con- 
vention :  "The  first  voice  publicly  raised  in  America  to 
dissolve  all  connection  with  Great  Britain  came,  not 
from  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  nor  the  Dutch  of 
New  York,  nor  the  Planters  of  Virginia,  but  from  the 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians."  Western  Pennsylvania 
was  also  settled  by  these  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians. 
When  that  section  was  first  organized  into  a  county 
it  was  called  Westmoreland.  At  Hannahstown,  May 
16,  1776,  a  convention  was  held  and  resolutions  passed 
with  the  same  spirit  of  independence  as  those  of  Meck- 
lenburg. 

As  might  be  expected  religion  suffered  greatly  during 
this  preliminary  period  as  well  as  during  the  progress 
of  the  war.  The  political  excitement  and  the  military 
disturbance  made  regular  church  work  almost  impos- 
sible. Disorders  of  the  finances  of  the  country  made 
the  support  of  the  ministry  extremely  difficult.     Very 


u6 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


many  pastors  betook  themselves  to  other  callings,  es- 
pecially to  agriculture,  for  self-support.  Many  joined 
the  army  either  as  chaplains,  or,  as  not  unfrequently 
happened,  as  officers  of  companies  made  up  in  their 
own  neighborhoods.  Churches  were  often  taken  and 
turned  into  stables  or  riding  schools.  The  church  of 
Newtown  had  its  steeple  sawed  off,  and  was  finally  torn 


HANOVER    COLLEGE,    HANOVER,    IND. 

down  and  its  sides  used  for  soldiers'  huts.  The  church 
in  Princeton  was  occupied  by  the  Hessian  soldiers,  a 
fireplace  built  in  it,  and  the  pews  and  galleries  used 
for  fuel.  More  than  fifty  places  of  worship  throughout 
the  land  were  utterly  destroyed  by  the  enemy  during 
the  war.  Others  were  so  defaced  and  injured  that  they 
were  unfit  for  use.  Pastors,  in  many  cases,  were  not 
allowed  to  continue  their  ministry.  Rodgers  of  New 
York,  Richards  of  Rahway,  Prime  of  Huntington, 
Duffield  of  Philadelphia  and  McWhorter  of  Carolina 
were  forced  to  flee  for  their  lives.  On  many  occasions 
the  soldiers  destroyed  what  they  could  not  carry  away  ; 
and  the  Presbyterian  clergy  were  generally  the  special 
objects  of  vengeance. 


THE   SYNODS    UNITED.  117 

It  is  remarkable,  considering  their  exposure,  that 
among  the  Presbyterian  ministers  so  few  lives  were 
sacrificed  as  the  direct  victims  of  the  war.  Caldwell 
of  Elizabethtown  was  shot  by  a  drunken  assassin. 
Moses  Allen,  a  classmate  of  President  Madison  of 
Princeton,  and  chaplain  of  a  regiment,  was  drowned 
near  Savannah.  John  Rosbnrgh  of  Allentown,  N.  J., 
chaplain  of  a  military  company,  was  shot  down  by  a 
body  of  Hessians  to  whom  he  had  surrendered  himself 
as  a  prisoner.  Duffield,  when  preaching  at  a  point 
opposite  Staten  Island,  was  interrupted  by  the  whistling 
of  balls  from  the  enemy.  The  forks  of  a  tree  were  his 
pulpit,  and  undisturbed  by  the  danger,  he  bade  his 
hearers  retire  behind  the  hill  and  then  he  finished  his 
sermon.  Joseph  Patterson,  one  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Redstone,  had  just  knelt  to  pray  under 
a  shed  when  a  board  in  a  line  with  his  head  was  shiv- 
ered by  the  discharge  of  a  rifle.  Stephen  B.  Balch 
once  preached  a  sermon  on  "Subjection  to  the  Higher 
Powers  "  while  General  Williams,  with  loaded  pistols 
in  his  belt,  protected  him  from  the  Royalists  who  were 
present.  The  ministers  on  the  Western  borders  were 
constantly  exposed  to  attacks  from  the  Indians,  and 
ordinarily  preached  with  their  rifles  close  at  hand. 

Perhaps  the  best  illustration  of  the  Presbyterian 
preachers  of  Revolutionary  days  will  be  Rev.  James 
Caldwell  of  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.  His  neighbors  said 
of  him  that  "he  preached  and  fought  alternately." 
The  Revolutionary  soldiers  were  armed  with  old-fash- 
ioned muskets,  which  needed  paper  wadding  rammed 
down  betwixt  the  powder  and  the  load  of  shot. 
During  the  attack  on  Springfield  the  wadding  gave  out, 
and  Caldwell  ran  to  the  church  and  filled  his  arms  with 


Il8  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Watts'  Psalm  books,  and  going  back  scattered  them 
among  the  soldiers,  shouting,  "  Now,  boys,  give  them 
Watts."  Irritated  at  hk  efficiency,  the  British  officers 
promised  a  large  reward  for  his  capture.  Failing  to 
get  him,  the  British  soldiery  set  fire  to  his  church  and 
shot  his  wife  through  the  window  of  her  own  room. 
Then  they  dragged  her  bleeding  corpse  from  the  midst 
of  her  children  into  the  street,  and  burned  the  out- 
buildings. Bret  Harte  tells  the  story  so  well  in  his 
peculiar  verse  that,  for  the  inspiration  of  its  patriotism, 
his  version  is  here  given  : 

Here's  the  spot.     Look  around  you.     Above  on  the  height 
Lay  the  Hessians  encamped.     By  that  church  on  the  right 
Stood  the  gaunt  Jersey  farmers.     And  here  ran  a  wall. 
Nothing  more.     Grasses  spring,  waters  run,  flowers  blow 
Pretty  much  as  they  did  so  many  years  ago. 

Nothing  more  did  I  say  ?     Stay  one  moment  ;  you've  heard 

Of  Caldwell,  the  parson,  who  once  preached  the  word 

Down  at  Springfield  ?    What,  no  ?    Come,  that's  bad.    Why,  he  had 

All  the  Jerseys  aflame!     And  they  gave  him  the  name 

Of  the  "  rebel  high  priest."     He  stuck  in  their  gorge  ; 

For  he  loved  the  Lord  God,  and  he  hated  King  George. 

He  had  cause,  you  may  say.     When  the  Hessians  that  day 
Marched  up  with  Knyphausen,  they  stopped  on  the  way 
At  the  "  Farms,"  where  his  wife,  with  a  child  in  her  arms, 
Sat  alone  in  the  house.     How  it  happened  none  knew 
But  God  and  that  one  of  the  hireling  crew 
Who  fired  the  shot.     Enough  ;  there  she  lay, 
And  Caldwell,  the  chaplain,  her  husband,  away. 

Did  he  preach  ?  did  he  pray  ?     Think  of  him  as  you  stand 
By  the  old  church  to-day  ;  think  of  him  and  that  band 
Of  militant  plowboys.     See  the  smoke  and  the  heat 


THE   SYNODS   UNITED.  II9 

Of  that  reckless  advance,  of  that  struggling  retreat  ; 

Keep  the  ghost  of  the  wife,  foully  slain,  in  your  view, 

And  what  could  you,  what  should  you,  what  would  you  do? 


Why,  just  what  he  did.     They  were  left  in  the  lurch 
For  the  want  of  more  wadding.     He  ran  to  the  church, 
Broke  the  door,  stripped  the  pews,  and  dashed  out  in  the  road 
With  his  arms  full  of  hymn  books,  and  threw  down  his  load 
At  their  feet.     Then  above  all  the  shouting  and  shots 
Rang  his  voice  :  "  Put  Watts  into  'em  ;  boys,  give  'em  Watts." 

And  they  did.     That  is  all.     Grasses  spring,  flowers  blow 
Pretty  much  as  they  did  ninety-three  years  ago. 
You  may  dig  anywhere,  and  you'll  turn  up  a  ball, 
But  not  always  a  hero  like  this — and  that's  all. 

Many  of  the  ministers  occupied  various  positions  in 
civil  life,  and  helped  to  serve  the  country  in  that  station. 
Henry  Patillo  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  North  Carolina.  William  Tennent  of  Charleston 
was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  South 
Carolina,  and  is  said  at  different  hours  of  the  same  day 
to  have  spoken  to  the  people  in  his  church  on  their 
spiritual  interests,  and  in  the  State  House  on  their  tem- 
poral concerns.  David  Caldwell  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  that  formed  the  State  Constitution  of  North 
Carolina,  and  Kettletas  of  Jamaica  was  a  member  of 
the  New  York  convention. 

But  the  most  notable  man  of  all  these  in  his  relation 
to  the  Revolutionary  government  was  Dr.  Witherspoon. 
A  medium  square-built  Scotchman,  he  was  inaugurated 
President  of  Princeton  College  in  1768.  He  was  then 
forty-six  years  of  age  and  had  been  a  minister  in  Scot- 
land for  twenty-four  years.  Being  a  lineal  descendant  of 
John  Knox,  it  can  be  readily  seen   how  thoroughly  fa- 


120  PRESBYTERIANS. 

miliar  he  would  be  with  the  whole  question  of  Church 
and  state,  and  what  heroic  blood  and  brain  animated 
him.  He  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  affairs.  As  the 
struggle  between  America  and  England  was  coming  on, 
his  broad  knowledge  of  all  sides  of  the  subject,  and  of 
the  literature  and  history  of  the  past,  made  him  at  once 
a  leader.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  New  Jersey,  and  five  days  after  it  con- 
vened was  elected  from  that  State  a  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress  then  in  session  at  Philadelphia. 
The  question  of  a  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
before  Congress  when  he  took  his  seat.  The  oppo- 
nents of  that  measure  suggested  delay  that  the  New 
Jersey  delegates  might  become  familiar  with  the  mat- 
ter, as  it  was  doubtful  if  the  people  were  yet  ripe  for 
such  a  step.  Dr.  Witherspoon  in  reply  is  reported  to 
have  said  :  "  Delay  is  not  needed  on  either  of  these 
grounds.  The  New  Jersey  members  are  familiar  with 
the  subject,  and  have  been  authorized  by  the  conven- 
tion which  elected  them  to  unite  with  the  representa- 
tives of  the  other  colonies  in  such  a  movement.  As  for 
the  people,  they  are  not  only  ripe  for  it  but  in  danger 
of  rotting  for  want  of  it."  "  For  my  own  part,"  he 
said,  "  of  property  I  have  some  ;  of  reputation  more  ; 
that  reputation  is  staked,  that  property  is  pledged  on 
the  issue  of  this  contest.  I  would  infinitely  rather  my 
gray  hairs  descend  into  the  sepulcher  by  the  hand  of 
the  executioner  than  desert  at  this  crisis  the  sacred 
cause  of  my  country." 

Witherspoon  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Robert 
Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revolutionary  government. 
When  others  in  the  Colonial  Congress  and  the  Revolu- 
tionary   army  were  assailing  and   slandering  General 


THE   SYNODS    UNITED.  121 

Washington,  Witherspoon  always  stood  faithfully  by 
him.  For  six  years,  in  his  position  in  Congress,  the 
clearness  and  vigor  of  his  intellect,  the  calmness  of  his 
judgment,  the  indomitable  strength  of  his  purpose  and 
his  uncommon  familiarity  with  the  forms  of  public 
business  made  his  services  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
country.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  "  Board  of 
War,"  and  in  connection  with  Richard  Henry  Lee  and 
John  Adams,  when  Congress  had  been  driven  from 
Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  issued,  in  1776,  a  heart- 
stirring  appeal  to  the  people.  He  was  the  only  min- 
ister who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

For  years  Princeton  College  was  closed,  as,  indeed, 
were  almost  all  the  other  schools  in  the  country,  by  the 
disorders  of  the  war.  The  meetings  of  Synod  were 
but  very  sparsely  attended.  It  was  difficult  for  the 
members  to  reach  the  place  of  meeting,  and  in  1776 
there  were  present  but  eighteen  ministers  and  three 
elders.  In  1778  the  British  held  Philadelphia,  and  the 
Moderator  convened  Synod  at  Bedminster.  When 
they  opened  at  that  place  there  were  but  ten  ministers 
and  three  elders  present.  Almost  all  that  could  be 
accomplished  at  these  slimly  attended  sessions  during 
the  war  was  to  hear  the  multitudinous  applications  from 
missionary  fields  in  the  Carolinas,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Western  Pennsylvania  and  Western  and  Northern  New 
York,  and  make  such  appointments  for  missionary  tours 
as  seemed  practicable.  At  every  meeting  of  the  Synod 
during  the  Revolutionary  War  a  paper  was  passed  ac- 
knowledging the  Divine  afflictions,  lamenting  the  wide- 
spread immorality  and  crime,  beseeching  the  members 
to  live  peaceable  lives  and  appointing  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer.     The   last   Thursday   of    each  month  was 


122  PRESBYTERIANS. 

repeatedly  appointed  as  a  monthly  day  of  prayer,  to  be 
observed  by  supplications  for  God's  mercy  and  prayers 
for  His  blessing  upon  the  army  and  upon  the  Conti- 
nental Congress. 

It  took  heroic  men  to  keep  up  the  Church  and  main- 
tain that  struggle.  But  the  Presbyterian  Church  had 
among  her  ministers  of  that  day  just  such  men,  and 
among  her  membership  just  such  people  as  were  needed 
for  the  times.  The  Tennents,  like  Witherspoon,  were 
foreign  refugees  with  Scotch-Irish  blood  and  fire 
and  perseverance.  McWhorter  and  Rodgers  and 
McDowell  and  Sproat  and  Cooper,  the  two  Alisons,  and 
others,  "  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,"  were  men 
capable  of  leading  any  Church  in  any  age  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  The  times  were  such  as  tried  men's  souls  ; 
but  these  men's  souls  and  the  souls  of  their  companions 
triumphed  through  the  trials  of  those  days.  The  seed 
of  American  Protestantism  was  sown  in  a  New  England 
blizzard.  Its  Presbyterian  type  sprouted  in  a  Phil- 
adelphia spring  snow.  It  shot  its  stalk  upward  in  a 
New  Jersey  midwinter  Sabbath  ordination.  It  blos- 
somed amid  the  tempest  of  the  Revolution.  It  "set 
its  fruit"  in  the  Great  Revival  of  1800.  The  world  is 
now  reaping  its  harvest  in  the  missionary  heat  of  these 
midsummer  years  with  their  millions  of  money  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  native  converts. 


JOHN    WITHERSPOON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

THE  FINAL    CONSTITUTION    OF    CHURCH    AND    STATE. 

LORD  CORNWALLIS  and  his  army  surrendered  to 
j  General  Washington,  October  19,  1781.  On  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  it  was  well  understood  that  this 
was  the  end  of  the  war.  When  Lord  North,  Prime 
Minister  of  England,  heard  the  news  he  repeatedly  said 
in  the  deepest  agitation  and  distress,  "  It  is  all  over." 
February  22,  1782,  a  motion  against  the  continuance  of 
the  American  war  was  supported  in  the  British  Parlia- 
ment by  Fox,  Pitt,  Wilberforce,  Burke,  Cavendish  and 
others,  and  was  defeated  by  but  one  of  a  majority. 
March  4th  a  resolution  to  the  same  effect  was  adopted, 
without  a  division  of  the  house,  and  Lord  North's 
ministry  shortly  ended.  Like  Lord  Cornbury  in  New 
York,  Lord  North,  by  his  general  incompetency,  stub- 
bornness, corruption  and  bad  management  of  British 
affairs  greatly  benefited  the  United  States.  It  was 
almost  two  years  before  peace  was  finally  concluded  by 
a  definite  treaty.  These  years  were  years  of  steady  re- 
organization and  rehabilitation  among  farmers,  pastors, 
storekeepers,  manufacturers  and  all  public  men  in  the 
government  and  in  the  Church. 

But  there  was  a  widespread  and  growing  feeling  that 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  would  not  prove  success- 
ful in  furnishing  the  nation  an  adequate  system  of  gov- 
ernment. These  Articles  authorized  the  National  Con- 
gress to  recommend  everything,  but  enabled  it  to  do 


124  PRESBYTERIANS. 

nothing.  The  several  States  could  follow  the  advice  of 
the  Congress  or  neglect  it,  as  they  saw  fit.  When  Con- 
gress assessed  taxes,  it  had  to  apportion  the  taxes 
amonor  the  States.  Each  State  was  left  free  to  act  as  it 
pleased  about  their  collection.  Of  course  no  appor- 
tionment of  taxes  would  be  satisfactory  to  all.  In  ef- 
fect, this  same  difficulty  confronted  the  Synod  in  en- 
deavoring to  carry  out  its  missionary  projects.  It  could 
advise  Presbyteries  and  churches  to  take  collections. 
These  same  Presbyteries  made  feeble  efforts  to  comply, 
as  owing  to  poverty  and  distance  the  members  were  not 
able  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  Synod,  and  so 
missed  the  inspiration  of  the  occasion.  By  this  time 
churches  had  been  organized,  pastors  settled,  Presby- 
teries constituted  and  church  machinery  generally  set  in 
operation  throughout  Northern  and  Western  New 
York,  along  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  River,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  through  the 
States  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia.  The  meetings  of 
Synod  had  by  a  law  of  custom  been  fixed  at  Philadel- 
phia. It  was  as  difficult  to  get  from  Philadelphia  to 
these  distant  regions  to  hold  a  meeting  of  Synod,  as  it 
was  for  the  missionaries  to  get  from  these  distant  re- 
gions to  Philadelphia  to  attend  meetings.  Efficient 
church  work,  therefore,  called  for  quite  a  radical  reor- 
ganization. In  the  Synod  every  minister  was  a  mem- 
ber, and  every  pastoral  charge  had  a  right  to  be  repre- 
sented by  an  elder.  The  Synods  were  thus  not  ordina- 
rily attended  by  a  tenth  of  those  who  had  a  right  to 
membership. 

The  whole  subject  of  delegated  bodies  had  been  ar- 
gued through,  on  its  Scriptural  side,  in  Geneva,  in  Scot- 
land and  by  the  Westminster  divines.     The  plan   of  a 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH   AND    STATE.  12$ 

delegated  General  Assembly  was,  therefore,  familiar  to 
all  the  leaders  of  Presbyterianism  at  that  date.  In 
1724  Synod  had  voted  for  meeting  by  delegates,  and  di- 
rected the  Presbyteries  to  send  but  part  of  their  num- 
ber. The  record  of  the  discussion  of  the  subject  in 
the  minutes  of  Synod  is  very  brief,  but  it  can  be  well 
understood  that,  in  the  Church  as  in  the  state,  the 
whole  subject  was  abundantly  debated  in  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  leading  members.  If  interstate  diffi- 
culties compelled  statesmen  to  consider  the  feasibility 
of  some  more  effective  form  for  the  civil  government, 
the  rapidly  multiplying  missionaries  and  Presbyteries 
compelled  the  leaders  of  the  Church  to  study  with  anx- 
iety the  possibilities  of  future  church  extension  and  the 
method  by  which  the  Church  could  best  be  organized  to 
meet  that  expanding  future. 

In  1  785  a  committee  consisting  of  Drs.  Witherspoon, 
Rodgers,  Robert  Smith,  Alison,  S.  S.  Smith,  Wood- 
hull,  Cooper,  Latta,  Duffield  and  the  Moderator,  Rev. 
M.  Wilson,  was  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the 
constitution  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  other  Prot- 
estant Churches,  and  compile  a  system  of  general  rules 
for  the  government  of  the  Synod.  A  proposition  was 
made  at  the  same  meeting  that  the  Synod  be  divided 
into  three  Synods,  and  a  General  Assembly  constituted 
out  of  the  whole.  The  clerk  was  directed  to  transmit 
a  copy  of  this  proposition  to  the  Presbyteries  not  rep- 
resented in  Synod,  and  earnestly  urge  their  attendance 
at  the  next  meeting.  The  whole  subject  was  thus 
brought  in  the  most  serious  way  to  the  attention  of 
every  member  of  the  denomination. 

By  this  committee,  as  well  as  by  the  members  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  the  Synod,  the  whole  subject  of  the 


126  PRESBYTERIANS. 

standards  of  the  Church  was  thoroughly  examined 
through  the  years  1785,  1  786  and  1787.  By  the  close  of 
the  meeting  of  1787  the  work  had  so  far  progressed 
that  a  draft  of  the  new  constitution  was  transmitted  to 
the  Presbyteries,  and  notice  given  that  it  would  be 
taken  up  and  acted  upon  in  1788. 

The  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phil- 
adelphia in  1 788  was  one  of  the  historic  meetings  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Item  by  item,  and  article  by 
article,  that  Synod  went  over  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
the  Form  of  Government,  the  Book  of  Discipline  and 
the  Directory  for  Worship.  The  Presbyteries  were 
quite  extensively  reconstructed  as  to  their  boundaries 
and  membership.  The  last  act  of  the  Synod  was  to 
declare  that  its  existence  should  cease  with  the  present 
meeting  and  four  Synods  should  be  constructed  out  of 
its  territory.  A  General  Assembly  was  created  and  its 
first  meeting  was  appointed  to  be  held  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia  on  the  third 
Thursday  of  May,  1789.  As  was  proper,  leading  men 
were  appointed  to  preach  the  sermon  and  preside  at 
the  opening  of  each  of  these  four  new  Synods  ;  and 
they  were  directed  to  hold  their  first  meeting  in  the 
October  of  that  year,  1788.  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  ap- 
pointed to  open  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  his  name  appropriately  heads  the  list  of 
the  moderators  as  now  printed  in  the  annual  minutes. 
Each  Presbytery  was  to  send  up  a  minister  and  an  elder 
for  every  six  ministers  found  on  its  roll.  Minor  amend- 
ments were  made  to  almost  all  the  Westminster 
Standards  ;  but  these  minor  amendments  were  merely 
such  as  were  required  by  the  fact  that  the  church  was 
tO'  work  in  an  American  republic  and  not  in  an  English 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH    AND    STATE.  \2J 

monarchy.  At  present,  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion have  to  be  sent  down  by  the  General  Assembly  to 
the  Presbyteries  for  approval  ;  but  as  every  minister 
was  himself  by  right  a  member  of  that  Synod  of  i  788, 
the  Synod  itself  took  final  action  upon  the  whole  sub- 
ject. When  it  adjourned  on  the  29th  day  of  May,  it 
adjourned  "  sine  die "  by  its  own  final  dissolution. 
From  that  time  onward,  even  before  it  had  held  its  first 
meeting,  the  General  Assembly  was  in  legal  existence 
as  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Church. 

It  may  not  be  possible  to  demonstrate  that  the 
framers  of  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  consciously  and  intentionally  molded  our  present 
system  of  government  after  the  Form  of  Government 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Direct  testimony  to  this 
effect  does  not  exist.  The  circumstantial  evidence, 
however,  is  very  strong.  The  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion, which  constituted  the  first  organic  law  of  the 
nation,  were  substantially  the  Independent  form  of 
church  government  applied  to  the  nation.  The  citizens 
of  no  State  could  be  compelled  to  comply  with  the  laws 
of  Congress.  As  is  true  of  a  council,  so  it  was  said  of 
Congress — "  it  could  advise  everything  but  could  do 
nothing."  The  inherent  weakness  of  this  system  was 
early  seen  by  some  of  the  Revolutionary  statesmen, 
and  became  rapidly  manifest  as  Congress  sought  to  levy 
taxes,  provide  for  the  army  and  compact  the  Union. 
By  the  time  the  Revolutionary  War  was  ended,  Wash- 
ington, as  commander  of  the  army,  was  thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  the  government  of  the  Confederation  was 
inherently  incompetent  to  consolidate  and  control  the 
nation.  A  Commission  of  Delegates  from  the  adjacent 
colonies  to  adjust    the  rights   of  commerce   in   Chesa- 


128  PRESBYTERIANS. 

peake  Bay,  convened  September  n,  1786.  Their 
appointment  grew  out  of  the  general  discontent  with 
the  insufficient  authority  of  Congress.  The  first  duty 
of  the  members  was  to  study  what  authority  their  report 
might  carry  with  it  in  case  satisfactory  conclusions  were 
reached.  They  never  reported  directly  on  the  subject 
upon  which  they  were  appointed,  but,  in  place  of  such  a 
report,  communicated  to  the  Continental  Congress 
their  conviction  that  there  was  an  imperative  necessity 
for  a  general  convention  of  the  colonies  "  to  devise 
such  further  provisions  as  should  appear  necessary  to 
render  the  Constitution  of  the  Federal  Government 
adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union."  Out  of  that 
report  grew  the  call  by  the  Continental  Congress  of 
that  convention  which  finally  proposed  the  present 
Constitution.  This  action  of  the  Continental  Congress 
is  dated  February  21,  1787.  In  1785  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  appointed  a  committee  of  ten 
to  "take  into  consideration  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  and  other  Protestant  Churches,  and, 
agreeably  to  the  general  principles  of  Presbyterian 
government,  propose  to  the  Synod  such  a  form  as  will 
be  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  Church  in  this  country." 
Thus,  in  both  the  nation  and  the  Church,  at  the  same 
time,  statesmen  and  church  leaders  were  studying  the 
problem  of  government  as  suited  to  this  land. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  in  repudiating  any  influence  from 
the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  on  his  draft  of  the  Na- 
tional Declaration  of  Independence,  and  asserting  that 
he  never  heard  of  it,  adds  a  fact  which  explains  the 
failure  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  to  reach  the 
general  knowledge  of  the  Continental  Congress.  He 
says,   "  Hooper  was  a  great    Tory,  Hughes  was    very 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH   AND   STATE.  129 

wavering,  sometimes  firm,  sometimes  feeble,  so  that  he 
had  to  be  held  up  to  his  duty  by  Caswell,  the  other 
delegate,  who  soon  left  for  home." 

Captain  Jack,  who  was  sent  with  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration  from  Charlotte,  was  directed  to  deliver  it 
to  the  North  Carolina  delegates  when  he  reached  Phil- 
adelphia. After  he  delivered  it  he  immediately  re- 
turned. If,  now,  he  put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Tory 
Hooper,  or  into  the  hands  of  the  timid  Hughes,  it  is  quite 
certain  that,  in  the  general  antipathy  felt  by  the  leaders 
to  the  notion  of  rebellion  against  England  so  early  as 
1775,  the  North  Carolina  delegates  would  think  it  im- 
prudent to  announce  the  rash  action  of  their  mountain 
constituency.  No  doubt  neither  Jefferson  nor  Adams 
heard  of  it,  and  by  the  next  year  it  may  have  passed 
somewhat  from  the  memory  of  those  who  had  con- 
cealed it. 

If,  however,  Jefferson  was  ignorant  of  it  in  1776,  it 
would  seem  that  Washington  well  knew  its  origin  and 
tenor  in  the  winter  of  1776-77.  When  he  was  retreat- 
ing from  Philadelphia  toward  Baltimore  and  Virginia, 
he  made  the  speech  quoted  by  Dr.  Hoge,  p.  480. 
It  is  cited  also  in  Dr.  Mears's  address  on  the  Presby- 
terian Element  in  our  National  Life  quoted  in  the 
Presbyterian  Encyclopedia.  He  had  good  reason  to 
know  the  fighting  qualities  of  the  Presbyterians. 
When  he  took  up  his  headquarters  in  New  York  he 
asked  for  a  private  interview  with  Dr.  John  Rodgers, 
because  he  had  been  told  he  might  be  very  useful  to 
the  Commander-in-chief.  Dr.  Rodgers's  aid  and  in- 
formation were  repeatedly  sought  and  always  cordially 
granted.  From  1776  to  1782  Dr.  John  Witherspoon, 
the   acknowleged   leader  of   the    Presbyterian  Church, 


130  Presbyterians. 

was  a  New  Jersey  delegate  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  was  the  unwaverinQ-  friend  of  General  Wash- 
ed '  o 

ington  when  others  were  assailing  his  management  of 
the  army.  Still  further  south  armies  were  commanded, 
and  battles  fought,  by  Presbyterian  elders.  "  The  battle 
of  the  Cowpens,  of  King's  Mountain  and  the  severe  skir- 
mish known  as  Huck's  Defeat  are  celebrated  as  giving  a 
turning  point  to  the  contests  of  the  Revolution.  General 
Morgan,  who  commanded  at  the  Cowpens,  was  a  Presby- 
terian elder.  General  Pickens,  who  made  all  the  ar- 
rangements for  the  battle,  was  a  Presbyterian  elder,  and 
nearly  all  under  their  command  were  Presbyterians. 
In  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  Colonel  Campbell, 
Colonel  James  Williams,  Colonel  Cleveland,  Colonel 
Shelby  and  Colonel  Sevier  were  all  Presbyterian  elders, 
and  the  body  of  their  troops  were  from  Presbyterian 
settlements.  At  Huck's  Defeat  in  New  York,  Colonel 
Bratton  and  Major  Dickson  were  both  elders  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Major  Samuel  Morrow,  who 
was  with  Colonel  Sumter  in  four  engagements  and 
took  part  in  many  others,  was  for  about  fifty  years  a 
ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  General  Mar- 
ion and  many  other  distinguished  Revolutionary  officers 
were  of  Huguenot  or  full-blooded  Presbyterian  extrac- 
tion. 

Of  the  three  millions  of  the  population  of  this  nation 
at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  estimates  only  are  pos- 
sible as  to  religious  tendencies,  and  these  estimates 
vary.  Some  go  as  low  as  one-tenth,  and  others  as 
high  as  one-half  as  to  the  proportion  of  those  of  Pres- 
byterian affiliations,  either  in  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  Reformed  Dutch  Church  or  some  branch  of 
the  English  and  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  bodies. 


132  PRESBYTERIANS. 

From  1785  to  1790,  in  both  Church  and  state,  the 
question  of  a  new  form  of  government  adapted  to  the 
independent  condition  of  the  country  was  before  the 
people  either  as  a  theory  or  as  an  experiment.  Various 
members  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  in  prepara- 
tion for  their  work,  made  digests  of  the  constitutions  of 
the  different  republics  of  history.  Washington,  him- 
self, made  such  a  compilation.  Every  public  man  knew 
that  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  had  measured 
strength  with  the  royal  house  of  England  and  had  won 
the  conflict ;  that  Knox  and  Calvin  had  developed  the 
Presbyterian  system  of  government  while  Knox  was  an 
exile  residing  at  Geneva,  and  that  Calvin  had  secured 
the  molding  of  the  Genevan  republic  according  to  his 
own  conception  of  a  form  of  government  derived  from 
the  Bible.  Queen  Elizabeth  and  her  lords  objected  to 
the  return  of  the  Puritans  who  had  fled  to  Geneva  dur- 
ing Bloody  Mary's  reign,  because  they  came  back  so  in- 
toxicated with  republicanism.  It  is  thus  quite  certain 
that  the  constitution  of  that  Genevan  Republic  and  the 
form  of  government  of  that  victorious  Scotch  Presby- 
terian Church  would  be  faithfully  studied.  Both  King- 
James  I.  and  his  son  Charles  objected  to  Presbyterian- 
ism  because  it  was  a  form  of  government  fit  only  for 
republics,  and  intolerable  to  kings.  English  Tories 
blamed  all  their  American  troubles  on  the  Presbyte- 
rians. That  hostility  of  British  royalty  was  sure  to 
make  Americans  of  the  Revolution  feel  confidence  in 
Presbyterian  representativism  as  a  mode  of  government 
adapted  to  freemen. 

When  the  Continental  Congress  secured  a  quorum  in 
Philadelphia  on  the  25th  of  May,  1787,  the  members 
found  that  the  Presbyterian  Synod  was  then  in  session 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH    AND   STATE.  1 33 

in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  and  had  been  for 
six  days  debating  the  subject  of  the  form  of  govern- 
ment reported  by  that  committee  of  seven  of  which 
Dr.  Witherspoon  was  chairman.  The  report  of  that 
committee  had  been  made  to  Synod  the  previous  year, 
and  then  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  for  consider- 
ation. The  whole  Church  had  been  studying  it  for  two 
years,  and  the  members  had  come  to  this  Synod  filled 
with  the  spirit  which  at  the  last  Synod  had  adopted  a 
resolution  urging  general  attendance  in  1787,  owing 
to  the  great  importance  of  this  business.  The  two 
bodies  were  but  four  squares  apart,  the  Constitutional 
Convention  meeting  in  Independence  Hall  on  Chestnut 
Street,  near  Fifth  Street,  and  the  Presbyterian  Synod  in 
the  Second  Church  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Arch 
streets.  In  that  Constitutional  Convention  of  fifty-five 
men  Bancroft  says  that  there  were  nine  Princeton  gradu- 
ates, four  Yale  men,  three  of  Harvard,  two  of  Columbia, 
one  of  Pennsylvania  and  five  or  six  had  been  for  a  time  at 
William  and  Mary  College.  One,  James  Wilson,  was  a 
Scotchman  who  had  had  for  his  tutors  the  Presbyterian 
Drs.  Blair  and  Watts  in  the  old  country.  Washington 
appointed  him  one  of  the  first  Judges  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court. 

Undoubtedly  the  three  leaders  of  this  Constitutional 
Convention  were  Hamilton,  Madison  and  Washington. 
Washington  and  Witherspoon  were  intimate  and  trusted 
friends.  Madison  was  one  of  Witherspoon's  graduates 
at  Princeton.  Hamilton  had  applied  for  admission  to 
Princeton,  been  examined  by  Witherspoon  and  was 
complimented  on  his  remarkable  ability,  while  yet  but 
sixteen  years  of  age.  He  was  not  willing  to  take  the 
time  ordinarily  occupied  by  the   regular  course,  but   in- 


134  PRESBYTERIANS. 

sisted  that  Princeton  College  should  allow  him  to  study 
the  subjects  included  in  the  course,  and  stand  examina- 
tions on  them  as  fast  as  he  finished  them,  and  so  grad- 
uate, if  possible,  in  about  half  the  time.  This  demand 
Dr.  Witherspoon  declined,  and  so  Hamilton  went  to 
King's  College,  now  Columbia  College,  New  York. 
Hamilton  was  by  his  father  a  Scotchman  and  by  his 
mother  a  Huguenot.  Both  parents  died  early,  and  his 
subsequent  training  was  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Knox,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Jamaica,  the  place  of 
Hamilton's  birth.  When  at  fifteen  years  of  age  he 
came  to  New  York,  it  was  with  letters  of  introduction 
from  Dr.  Knox  to  Mr.  Boudinot  and  other  prominent 
Presbyterians.  He  was  an  extraordinarily  precocious 
youth,  and  entered  with  enthusiasm  into  the  struggle  for 
Independence.  While  on  the  staff  of  General  Wash- 
ington, during  the  winter  of  1780,  he  courted  and  mar- 
ried Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  General  Philip  Schuy- 
ler, a  leading  Dutch  Reformed  layman  of  New  York. 
Dr.  Alexander  T.  McGill  of  Princeton  is  authority  for 
the  statement  from  Mrs.  Hamilton  that,  when  they  were 
in  Philadelphia  residing  during  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, General  Hamilton  kept  the  Presbyterian  Form 
of  Government  on  his  study  table. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  whatever  information 
on  the  subject  of  government  could  be  derived  from 
the  Presbyterian  system,  the  leading  members  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  possessed  that  knowledge. 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  during  his  service  in  the  Continental 
Congress,  had  vindicated  his  reputation,  earned  else- 
where, for  remarkable  fidelity  in  attention  to  business. 
The  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  were  not 
required  to  be  in  constant  attendance,  as  each  colony 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH   AND   STATE.  1 35 

sent  a  laroe  number  of  delegates  and  it  was  sufficient 
if  any  two  of  its  members  were  present  in  Congress. 
So,  as  a  method  of  mutual  relief,  the  various  delegations 
arranged  for  two  to  be  in  Congress  while  the  others 
were  alternately  at  home.  Dr.  Witherspoon  is  recorded 
never  to  have  asked  his  colleagues  to  be  in  Congress  in 
order  that  he  might  be  at  home.  His  influence  and 
ability  as  a  member  of  Congress  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  War,  of  the 
Committee  on  Finances,  of  the  Committee  on  the  Treat- 
ment of  Prisoners,  of  the  Committee  on  the  State  of 
Money  and  Finances  of  the  United  States,  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Supplying  the  Army  by  Commission  and  of 
the  Secret  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War. 
When  Congress  in  1776  adjourned  from  Philadelphia 
to  Baltimore,  and  Washington's  army  was  forced  back 
through  New  Jersey,  a  committee  consisting  of  Wither- 
spoon, Lee  and  Adams  issued  an  eloquent  address  to 
the  country,  and  that  address  was  penned  by  Dr. 
Witherspoon.  He  was  known  to  be  the  author  of  a 
large  number  of  the  public  documents. 

He  was  the  only  member  of  the  committee  appointed 
to  adjust  the  Vermont  difficulty  concerning  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants  in  1779  who  was  able  to  act;  but 
his  report  was  so  acceptable  that  it  was  adopted  by 
Congress  and  accepted  by  all  parties.  But  the  thing 
that  makes  it  most  certain  that  he  would  be  influential 
in  modeling  the  new  Constitution  is  the  fact  stated  in 
the  sketch  of  his  life  in  the  "  Biography  of  the  Signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,"  namely,  that  "  in  the 
three  leading  particulars  wherein  he  differed  from  his 
brethren  in  Congress,  his  principles  have  been  justified 
by  the  result."     These  were  the  expensive  mode  adopted 


136  PRESBYTERIANS. 

for  supplying  the  army,  the  emission  of  paper  money, 
and  the  inefficacy  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
The  very  assembling  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
was  a  vindication  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  statesmanship 
as  exhibited  in  the  Continental  Congress.  Let  us, 
therefore,  picture  to  ourselves  the  Presbyterian  Synod 
of  1787  concluding  the  labors  of  the  denomination 
which  for  a  year  had  been  studying  the  science  of  gov- 
ernment, just  as  the  Constitutional  Convention  began 
its  labors  to  make  a  new  national  government.  Dr. 
Witherspoon  is  the  leader  of  the  first,  and  General 
Washington,  his  confidential  friend,  the  President  of 
the  other,  and  nine  Princeton  alumni  members  with  him 
of  the  same. 

But  it  is  not  important  how  they  came  to  be  so  sim- 
ilar. It  is  certain,  that  the  National  Congress  corre- 
sponds to  the  General  Assembly,  States  correspond  to 
the  Synods,  counties  to  the  Presbyteries,  and  townships 
and  incorporated  towns  to  the  individual  churches. 
Congressmen,  legislators  and  local  officers  are  elected 
to  represent  their  constituencies,  just  as  commissioners 
are  elected  by  Presbyteries  to  represent  them  in  the 
General  Assembly,  or  in  delegated  Synods.  So  elders 
are  elected  by  the  church  sessions  to  represent  them  in 
the  Presbyteries.  "  Ruling  elders  are  properly  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  chosen  by  them  for  the 
purpose  of  exercising  government  and  discipline." 
Thus,  throughout  the  entire  system  in  both  cases, 
government  is  administered  by  representatives  of  the 
people,  as  in  republics  ;  and  not  by  all  the  citizens,  as 
in  pure  democracies  and  I  ndependent  Churches  ;  nor  are 
the  people  ruled  over  by  kings  as  in  monarchies  ;  nor 
by  bishops,  as  in  Episcopal  or  Romanist  denominations. 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH    AND    STATE.  1 37 

The  United  States  Constitutional  Convention  sent 
down  its  proposed  Constitution  to  be  ratified  by  the 
States,  and  the  Presbyterian  Synod  sent  its  proposed 
new  form  down  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their  consider- 
ation. Roth  in  the  nation  and  in  the  Church  the  rec- 
ommendations were  approved  and  the  new  Constitu- 
tions adopted.  The  processes  of  consideration  and 
reorganization  occupied  two  years.  The  Synod  of 
1788  ended  the  work  of  the  Synod  as  the  highest  judi- 
catory and  gave  way  to  the  General  Assembly. 

The  Assembly  held  its  first  meeting  according  to 
appointment,  May  21,  1789,  and  Dr.  Witherspoon 
preached  the  opening  sermon  from  the  text,  "  So  then, 
neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  neither  he  that 
watereth  ;  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase."  That 
was  the  year  when  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  under  its  present  Constitution,  had  gone  into 
operation  by  the  inauguration  of  General  Washington 
on  the. 30th  of  the  preceding  April.  On  the  very  first 
day  of  its  sessions  the  General  Assembly  appointed  a 
committee,  consisting  of  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Alison  and 
S.  S.  Smith,  to  draft  an  address  to  be  presented  in  be- 
half of  the  Assembly  to  President  Washington.  The 
historian  of  a  sister  denomination  claims  that  it  was  in 
advance  of  any  other  religious  body  in  recognizing 
the  organization  of  the  National  Government  and  the 
presidency  of  Washington,  because,  May  29,  two  of 
its  bishops  waited  on  him  with  an  address.  But  on 
May  26  the  elegant  address  recommended  by  the 
above  committee  was  unanimously  adopted  and  signed 
by  John  Rodgers,  as  Moderator  of  the  Assembly.  The 
reply  of  General  Washington  was  in  his  accustomed 
reverent  ami  felicitous  style. 


I38  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Among  the  acts  of  the  first  General  Assembly  some 
are  noticeable  for  their  characteristic  fitness  in  express- 
ing the  vital  convictions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Special  pains  were  taken  to  arrange  for  the  publication 
of  "  faithful  and  correct  impressions  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures." A  committee  of  its  members  was  appointed  to 
co-operate  with  representatives  of  other  denominations 
to  "  revise  and  correct  the  proof  sheets  of  Mr.  Collins's 
edition  of  the  Bible,  and  to  fix  upon  the  most  correct 
edition  to  be  recommended  to  the  printer  from  which 
to  copy."  That  Assembly  adopted  what  seemed  to  it 
to  be  the  best  measures  for  "  sending  missionaries  to 
the  frontier  settlements  to  form  congregations,  ordain 
elders,  administer  the  sacraments,  etc."  It  adopted  a 
set  of  rules  of  order,  which,  by  various  amendments  of 
General  Assemblies,  are  the  present  "  Rules  of  Order" 
of  the  Church.  These  have  been  pronounced  by  many 
foreigners  "  the  best  system  of  rules  to  be  found  on 
either  side  of  the  water  for  the  guidance  of  deliberative 
bodies."  The  preceding  year  the  old  Synod  had  ar- 
ranged to  secure  from  the  Presbyteries  a  correct  list  of 
the  ministers  and  churches.  This  is  probably  the  first 
authentic  record  of  the  ministers  and  churches  of  the 
denomination.  There  were  at  that  time  one  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  (177)  ministers  and  four  hundred 
and  thirty-one  (431)  churches,  gathered  in  sixteen 
Presbyteries  in  the  four  Synods  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  Philadelphia,  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  The 
Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  consisted  of  the 
Presbyteries  of  Dutchess,  Suffolk,  New  York  and  New 
Brunswick.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  consisted  of  the 
Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia,  Lewistown,  New  Castle, 
Baltimore  and  Carlisle.     The  Synod  of  Virginia  con- 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHURCH    AND    STATE.  1 39 

sisted  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Redstone,  Hanover,  Lex- 
ington and  Transylvania,  and  the  Synod  of  the  Car- 
olinas  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Abingdon,  Orange  and 
South  Carolina. 

The  work  of  the  revival  of  the  country  financially, 
politically  and  socially  after  the  Revolutionary  War 
was  reasonably  rapid.  The  immigration  from  Europe 
was  from  better  classes  of  society  there,  and  furnished 
excellent  citizens  for  America.  There  was  much  dis- 
trust of  the  system  of  government  inaugurated  with  the 
presidency  of  Washington,  and  many  feared  that  it 
would  turn  out  such  a  strong  central  government  as  to 
obliterate  the  individuality  of  the  States.  This  distrust 
had  somewhat  to  do  with  the  lack  of  public  confidence, 
which  interfered  with  the  public  prosperity. 

Almost  immediately  the  French  Revolution  broke 
up  the  peace  of  Europe.  Gratitude  for  the  assistance 
furnished  by  France  to  this  government  during  our 
own  Revolution  made  sympathy  for  France  very  strong. 
Sympathy  with  French  morals  and  religious  opinions  be- 
came very  widespread  in  this  country.  Infidelity  sub- 
verted public  morals  at  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
and  the  picture  drawn  by  historians  of  that  time  is 
gloomy  and  discouraging.  The  excesses  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  the  extremes  to  which  the  Bonaparte 
monarchy  pushed  its  absolutism,  were  severe  afflictions 
to  France,  but  they  were  great  blessings  to  this  country. 
If  French  infidelity  had  been  able  to  maintain  stable 
and  quiet  government  in  Europe,  it  would  have  well- 
nigh  obliterated  Christianity  in  this  country.  A  little 
time,  however,  was  all  that  was  needed  to  show  the 
thoughtful  world  that,  as  a  system  of  social  order, 
French  skepticism  meant  anarchy.     Through  its  spread 


140  PRESBYTERIANS. 

in  this  country,  many  of  the  prominent  men,  immedi- 
ately after  the  Revolution,  declared  themselves  hostile 
to  Christianity.  Infidel  organizations  were  very  com- 
mon. "The  statesmen  of  this  period  are  entitled  to 
great  credit  for  their  intelligence,  ability  and  resources  ; 
but  their  minds  were  tainted  with  a  subtle  poison  of 
French  philosophy  vitiating  their  religious  perceptions." 
When  Dr.  Dwight  assumed  the  presidency  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, in  1795,  he  found  atheistical  clubs  and  infidelity 
in  its  most  radical  form  anions-  the  students.  A  con- 
siderable  portion  of  his  first  class  had  assumed  the 
names  of  English  and  French  infidels,  and  were  more 
familiarly  known  by  these  nicknames  than  by  their 
own.  The  impression  of  the  religious  public  as  to  this 
moral  smallpox  is  indicated  by  the  language  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1798.  It  speaks  as  follows: 
"  Formidable  innovations  and  convulsions  in  Europe 
threaten  destruction  to  morals  and  religion,  and  our 
country  is  threatened  with  similar  calamities.  We  per- 
ceive with  pain  and  fearful  apprehension  a  general 
dereliction  of  religious  principle  and  practice  among 
our  fellow-citizens,  a  visible  and  prevailing  impiety  and 
contempt  for  the  laws  and  institutions  of  religion,  and 
an  abounding  infidelity  which  tends  to  atheism  itself. 
Profaneness,  pride,  luxury,  injustice,  intemperance, 
lewdness  and  every  species  of  debauchery  and  loose 
indulgence  greatly  abound."  Denunciation  of  the  best 
public  men  was  fashionable  among  infidels.  To  Gen- 
eral Washington,  Thomas  Paine  wrote:  "As  to  you, 
sir,  treacherous  in  private  friendship,  and  a  hypocrite 
in  public  life,  the  world  will  be  puzzled  to  decide 
whether  you  are  an  apostate  or  an  impostor."  About 
the   beginning   of   this  century  a  gentleman   wrote  as 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION    OF   CHURCH    AND    STATE.  I4I 

follows  :  "  I  once  cut  out  of  the  newspapers  we  received 
the  advertisements  of  all  the  runaway  wives,  and  pasted 
them  on  a  slip  of  paper  close  to  each  other.  At  the 
end  of  the  month  the  slip  contained  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  advertisements,  and  reached 
from  the  ceiling  to  the  floor  of  the  room.  We  prob- 
ably did  not  receive  more  than  one-twentieth  of  the 
newspapers  of  the  United  States."  Dueling  was  com- 
mon. Drunkenness  at  funerals  and  on  public  occa- 
sions was  widely  prevalent.  Complaints  are  often- 
heard  of  the  degeneracy  of  the  present  time  as  com- 
pared with  ''the  good  old  days";  but  a  study  of  the 
history  of  the  earlier  years  of  this  government  would 
show  a  state  of  society  which  would  be  shocking  to 
modern  moral  thought. 

The  resources  of  the  Church  were  small  indeed  with 
which  to  make  the  struggle  with  this  abounding  vice 
and  corrupt  philosophy.  The  highest  judicatories  of  the 
different  denominations  took  alarm  at  the  widespread 
iniquity.  Solemn  exhortations  were  addressed  by  relig- 
ious bodies  everywhere  to  all  their  people.  These 
exhortations  were  read  from  the  pulpit,  accompanied 
with  earnest  discourses.  In  some  Presbyteries  the  first 
Tuesday  of  every  quarter  throughout  the  year  was  ob- 
served as  a  day  of  supplication  and  prayer.  There  were 
but  few  religious  books,  and  very  few  Bibles.  During 
the  whole  colonial  history  no  English  Bibles  were  per- 
mitted to  be  published  in  the  land  ;  and  when  war  arose 
with  the  mother  country  it  became  difficult  to  obtain  a 
supply  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  In  1777  a  committee 
charged  with  the  matter  reported  to  Congress  :  "  We 
have  conferred  fully  with  the  printers  of  Philadelphia 
and  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  proper  types  for  print- 


142  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ing  the  Bible  are  not  to  be  had  in  this  country;  and 
that  the  paper  cannot  be  procured  but  with  such  diffi- 
culties, and  subject  to  such  casualties,  as  to  render  any 
dependence  on  it  altogether  improper."  The  right  to 
free  discussion,  both  through  the  Press  and  the  plat- 
form, was  guaranteed  to  belief  and  unbelief  alike  :  and 
it  seemed  as  if  the  question  whether  this  country  should 
be  Christian  or  infidel  was  just  then  up  for  final  settle- 
ment. The  supply  of  ministers  was  very  small  in  pro- 
portion to  the  open  fields  calling  for  such  laborers,  and 
the  means  of  training  more,  very  scant.  Untrained 
men  stood  but  little  chance  in  the  kind  of  struggle  then 
rao^ino:  in  this  land. 

The  eighteenth  century  was  closing  in  America  in 
apparent  spiritual  darkness,  while  social,  governmental 
and  spiritual  storms,  whirlwinds  and  earthquakes  were 
abroad  in  Europe.  The  "  Great  Revival  of  1800"  is 
one  of  the  epochs  of  religious  history,  and  its  influence 
for  good  has  never  been  surpassed.  The  defection 
anion sr  the  Conereoationalists  of  New  England  toward 
Unitarianism  was  then  at  its  flood  tide.  Their  churches 
were  reaping  the  full  harvest  of  the  tares  they  had  sown 
by  the  "  Half-way  Covenant."  That  Unitarian  defec- 
tion carried  away  a  majority  of  the  five  men  that  con- 
trolled Harvard  College.  The  election  of  Rev.  Henry 
Ware  in  1804  to  the  Hollis  Professorship  of  Divinity 
settled  the  new  theological  position  of  that  institu- 
tion. The  appropriation  in  this  manner  by  an  unevan- 
gelical  party  of  the  foundation  gifts  of  spiritually 
minded  people  startled  the  whole  body  of  earnest 
Christians  throughout  the  land.  Andover  Seminary 
was  founded  in  the  interest  of  orthodox  religion  as 
the  result  of  the  loss  of  Harvard. 


FINAL   CONSTITUTION   OP'   CHURCH    AND   STATE.  143 

The  interest  in  missions  to  the  heathen,  stirred  up  by 
William  Carey  in  England,  quickened  the  discouraged, 
chagrined  and  now  awakened  temper  of  godly 
people  in  America.  Pastors  were  ready,  not  only  to 
preach  at  home  but  also  to  make  itinerating  tours  of 
long  distances,  and  often  times  of  great  hardships. 
Preaching  thus,  week-days  and  Sabbaths,  to  congrega- 
tions which  all  parties  knew  had  few  religious  oppor- 
tunities, preachers  and  hearers  both  attended  the  serv- 
ices as  for  their  lives.  All  felt  the  preciousness  of  the 
occasion,  the  urgency  of  the  message  and  the  need  of 
activity.  The  problem  of  the  time  was  to  find  some 
permanent  system  for  reaching  the  whole  country  with 
the  few  available  men  on  hand.  God  raised  up  choice 
men  like  Nettleton  in  Connecticut,  Griffin  in  Boston, 
Finney  in  Ohio,  McCurdy  and  McMillan  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  and  Rice,  McGready,  the  two  McGees 
and  the  two  Nelsons  in  Kentucky,  and  others  like  these 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  They 
were  specially  endowed  with  "  power  from  on  high." 
By  1800  the  Church  had  grown  to  189  ministers,  449 
churches  and  probably  20,000  communicants. 

The  compensation  allowed  for  missionaries  seems 
ridiculously  small.  Gillett  says  :  "  The  annual  expen- 
diture during  this  period  for  missions  rarely  exceeded 
$2500,  and  oftentimes  came  far  short  of  it."  The 
salaries  were  sometimes  thirty-three  dollars  per  month  ; 
at  others,  one  dollar  per  day  and  expenses.  Mr.  Chap- 
man of  Georgia  is  recorded  to  have  received  $45.32 
while  traveling  two  thousand  miles  and  preaching  about 
one  hundred  sermons.  James  Hall  served  on  a  mission 
to  the  Mississippi  Territory  seven  months  and  thirteen 
days,  and  received  therefor  eighty-six  dollars.       There- 


144  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ports  of  Home  Missionaries  are  very  scant  indications 
of  the  real  truth  as  to  their  small  resources  and  large 
results.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  reports  of  those 
early  times,  as  well  as  those  of  later  days,  without  a 
deep  impression  of  the  self-denying  generosity  of  those 
who,  for  the  merest  pittance,  were  willing  to  brave  all 
the  hardships  of  the  wilderness  and  endure  storms  and 
fatigue  to  accomplish  their  work. 

As  the  next  chapter  will  show,  the  work  of  providing 
and  supporting  pastors,  and  the  best  use  of  the  printing 
press  in  disseminating  the  Gospel,  called  for  and  re- 
ceived the  aid  of  the  most  fertile  and  inventive  resources 
of  consecrated  genius.  The  immorality,  demoralization 
and  infidelity  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury was  the  low  ebb  tide  of  Christianity,  as  religion 
was  driven  back  by  the  tempest  of  war  in  this  country 
and  the  atheistic  upheaval  of  the  Old  World.  With 
the  new  century  the  tide  began  rapidly  to  return  again, 
as  the  breath  of  the  Lord,  in  infinite  benediction,  began 
to  blow  across  the  sea  of  His  love  toward  the  land 
of  our  sin  and  suffering.  Whatever  any  discouraged 
souls  may  say,  as  they  fondly  look  through  increasing 
distance  at  these  waves  of  blessing,  the  tide  has  been 
steadily  rising  from  that  time  to  this.  It  is  higher  now 
than  ever  before,  and  better  times  still  await  us  in  the 
future. 


ARCHIBALD   ALEXANDER,    D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  OF    I  8oO. 

THE  spiritual  deadness  which  followed  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  caused  widespread  dismay.  Year 
after  year  the  General  Assemblies,  in  their  reports  on 
the  state  of  religion  throughout  the  Church,  expressed 
to  the  people  the  deepest  concern  as  to  the  state  of  so- 
ciety. It  looked  to  good  people  as  if  the  very  foun- 
dations of  morality  and  social  order  were  going  to  de- 
struction. It  is  possible  that  this  sense  of  their  great 
need  led  God's  people  to  renewed  and  earnest  prayer. 
By  1 797  the  symptoms  of  better  times  began  to  ap- 
pear ;  and  the  closing  years  of  the  century  were  at 
once  seasons  of  great  religious  awakening  and  great 
moral  desolation.  Infidelity  and  atheism  were  bold, 
confident  and  defiant.  Christians  grew  weak  in  their 
own  eyes  and  sought  their  strength  from  God.  The 
earliest  symptoms  of  this  great  awakening  were  mani- 
fest in  Kentucky.  The  ministers  of  that  region  were 
zealous  and  faithful  itinerants.  The  people  were  bold 
on  either  hand — in  sin  and  in  religion. 

In  that  section  it  became  not  unusual  for  ministers  to 
appoint  special  communion  seasons.  Several  preachers 
would  gather  and  continue  their  preliminary  services 
day  and  night.  Out  of  these,  as  is  shown  on  p.  454. 
grew  "  Camp  Meetings."  Early  Western  emigrants 
camped  at  night  by  their  wagons.  One  family  wishing 
to  go  to  a  distant  meeting  and  stay  a  week  at  church 

145 


I46  PRESBYTERIANS. 

decided  to  do  that  way.  The  first  "  Camp  Meetings" 
were  thus  the  device  of  practical  Presbyterians  in  re- 
vival times. 

These  revivals  in  Kentucky  were  accompanied  by 
very  remarkable  "  bodily  exercises."  The  meetings 
were  opposed  energetically  and  defiantly  by  the  large 
skeptical  element  then  prominent  in  Kentucky.  The 
more  they  were  opposed  by  the  enemies  of  godliness, 
the  more  earnestly  the  revivals  were  pushed  by  the 
faithful  preachers.  Very  soon,  too,  opposition  arose 
from  some  of  the  Church  people  themselves.  Some 
of  those  who  advocated  the  meetings  were  carried 
away  with  enthusiasm  for  the  "  bodily  exercises," 
sometimes  even  to  the  extent  of  overlooking  the  im- 
portance of  genuine  regeneration.  The  more  conserv- 
ative Presbyterians,  having  their  attention  turned  mainly 
to  the  extravagances  attending  them,  began  to  oppose 
the  whole  matter.  The  enemies  of  religion,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  these  extravagances,  undertook  to  denounce 
all  religion  as  mere  emotion.  Between  these  extremes 
there  was  a  considerable  body  of  earnest  ministers,  who 
believed  in  the  work  and  were  faithful  laborers  in  the 
field.  The  public  demand  for  more  meetings,  and  more 
ministers  to  preach  at  them,  led  to  the  introduction  of 
laymen  as  exhorters  and  evangelists.  Some  of  these 
were  judicious  and  efficient  ;  others  were  more  enthu- 
siastic than  discreet.  In  time  it  came  to  be  obvious 
that  two  parties  were  growing  up  within  the  bounds  of 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

The  differences  between  these  parties  were  genuine 
doctrinal  differences  of  opinion,  as  well  as  practical 
differences  with  reference  to  church  management.  The 
one  party  believed  that  the  Confession  of  Faith,  in  its 


THE   GREAT   REVIVAL   OF    1800.  I47 

statement  of  Calvinistic  doctrine,tended  toward  fatalism. 
Many  of  their  ministers  in  accepting  the  Confession  of 
Faith  declared  their  adherence  to  it,  "except  so  much 
as  seemed  to  affirm  this  doctrine  of  fatality."  The 
other  side  denied  that  fatalism  was  taught  in  the  Con- 
fession,  and  so  were  not  ready  to  grant  ordination  to 
those  who  excepted  to  what  seemed  to  the  candidate 
for  ordination  an  assertion  of  fatalism.  "  Father  David 
Rice  "  of  Kentucky  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly 
for  advice  touching  this  practical  question,  as  to  the  best 
means  to  meet  the  very  urgent  demand  for  more  minis- 
ters. He  and  many  others  intimated  that,  "  under  the 
circumstances,"  the  regular  classical  course  was  not 
essential,  and  that  men  who  lacked  this  attainment, 
when  found  by  the  Presbyteries  otherwise  suitable, 
should  be  licensed  and  ordained  for  the  work.  Some 
of  the  men  thus  introduced  into  the  ministry  proved 
extravagant,  and  a  reaction  against  the  ordination  of 
uneducated  men  set  in  among  the  brethren  of  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  about  this  time 
organized  the  Cumberland  Presbytery.  A  majority  of 
its  members  were  in  favor  of  the  new  measures,  and 
believed  the  Confession  taught  fatalism.  Having  a 
Presbytery  of  their  own,  they  could  administer  its  own 
affairs  in  their  own  way. 

When  the  members  of  the  various  Presbyteries  came 
together  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Synod,  it  seemed 
impossible  to  maintain  the  peace.  The  conservative 
party  felt  themselves  responsible  for  the  course  pursued 
by  the  others.  As  a  result,  the  Synod  in  1806  dissolved 
the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland,  and  reconstructed  the 
Presbyteries  so  that  the  Revival  men  should  be  in  the 
minority  in  the   Presbyteries.      With  this  the  members 


I48  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery  were  dissatisfied.  In 
1804  Messrs.  Blythe,  Lyle  and  Stuart,  of  the  Synod, 
had  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  for  advice,  and  a 
committee  had  been  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Synod 
at  their  next  meeting.  In  their  report  to  the  Assembly 
of  1805  tnat  committee  stated  that  the  seceding  brethren 
regarded  the  action  of  the  Synod  as  a  violation  of  its 
own  rules,  and  believed  that  fatalism  was  taught  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith  ;  while  the  Synod,  on  the  other 
hand,  charged  the  seceding  brethren  with  rejecting  the 
use  of  creeds  and  disregarding  the  authority  of  Church 
judicatories.  To  the  same  Assembly  of  1805  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland  addressed  a  letter 
of  complaint.  The  Assembly,  while  disclaiming  any 
intention  to  cast  reproach  on  the  Revival,  pointed  out 
some  things  which  were  considered  proper  matters  for 
repression  by  the  Synod.  To  some  of  the  measures  of 
the  Synod  the  Assembly  of  1807  took  exceptions,  and 
advised  the  Synod  to  review  them.  The  members  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbytery  were  notified  that  if  the 
case  had  been  brought  up  by  way  of  regular  appeal, 
some  of  the  relief  desired  might  have  been  afforded. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  division  was  beyond  the 
reach  of  measures  of  reconciliation.  If  the  matters  in 
controversy  had  only  been  matters  of  feeling  and  per- 
sonal prejudices,  they  might  have  been  adjusted.  When 
brethren,  however,  fundamentally  differed  in  doctrine,  it 
was  not  easy  for  them  to  continue  cordially  to  co-oper- 
ate with  each  other.  A  recent  writer  of  the  Cumberland 
Church  has  said  :  "  The  doctrinal  difficulty  stands  to-day 
the  main  barrier  between  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
and  the  Mother  Church.  Recent  correspondence  be- 
tween the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  and  other  Presby- 


THE   GREAT   REVIVAL   OF    1800.  I49 

terian  bodies,  with  a  view  to  union,  has  been  had,  and 
every  difference  could  be  adjusted  except  the  doctrinal 
one."  The  historical  sketch  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church  given  in  this  work  by  Dr.  Howard 
and  Dr.  Hubbert,  p.  451,  gives  an  account  of  these 
early  controversies.  The  Cumberland  Presbytery  was 
reorganized  in  1810  as  an  independent  body.  By  1814 
the  General  Assembly  recognized  the  division  as  final, 
and  has  since  dealt  with  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church  as  a  sister  evangelical  denomination.  At  the 
time  of  the  division  neither  the  Assembly  nor  the 
Synod  was  unanimous  in  opposition  to  the  Cumber- 
land Presbytery,  and  some  leading  members  believed 
that  the  breach  might  have  been  prevented  or  healed. 
By  the  year  1800  the  revival  spirit  had  spread  abroad 
to  other  parts  of  the  Church,  and  was  particularly  mani- 
fest in  Western  Pennsylvania.  There,  also,  it  was  ac- 
companied by  what  were  known  as  the  "falling  exer- 
cises." These,  like  the  "bodily  exercises"  in  Ken- 
tucky, were  by  no  means  confined  to  those  who  were 
already  interested  in  the  subject  of  religion.  Often- 
times persons  were  seized  with  them  when  on  their  way 
to  the  meetings.  In  some  places  these  exercises  were 
much  more  marked  than  elsewhere,  and  oftentimes  took 
the  form  of  jerking  and  jumping.  "  It  was  no  unfre- 
quent  thing,"  said  Dr.  McMillan,  "  to  see  persons  so 
entirely  deprived  of  bodily  strength  that  they  would  fall 
from  their  seats  and  be  as  unable  to  help  themselves  as 
a  newborn  child."  The  subjects  of  these  affections  re- 
tained the  use  of  their  faculties  with  much  vigor.  Their 
convictions  of  guilt  and  danger  were  often  very  pun- 
gent. Some  were  under  deep  conviction  for  weeks  be- 
fore  they   felt    any    effects    on    the    body.      Instances 


150  PRESBYTERIANS. 

occurred  at  family  prayer,  and  even  in  merry  company, 
or  during-  the  prosecution  of  ordinary  business.  The 
evils  that  grew  out  of  these  exercises  came  mainly  from 
supposing  that  the  physical  exercise  was  proof  of  spirit- 
ual regeneration.  Oftentimes  genuine  conversion  ac- 
companied or  resulted  from  these  exercises  ;  but  some- 
times the  subjects  of  this  "falling  work"  went  back  to 
their  old  vicious  habits.  The  exercises  of  the  revival  of 
1800  were  quite  similar  to  those  of  1740.  They  certainly 
demonstrated  that  the  deep  mental  emotions  of  pro- 
found religious  experience  would  as  seriously  affect  the 
physical  system  as  deep  emotion  would  when  arising 
from  any  other  cause.  Sudden  fear  will  oftentimes  de- 
stroy physical  strength.  Sudden  joy  may  do  the  same. 
Religious  emotion,  when  very  widespread,  as  in  revival 
times,  may  be  accompanied  by  these  same  physical  ef- 
fects. What  is  required  seems  to  be  that  the  attention 
of  the  subject  of  them  should  be  diverted  from  them  as 
evidences  of  regeneration,  and  his  attention  concen- 
trated on  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  the  Savior.  Dr. 
Aaron  Williams,  at  the  McMillan  Centennial,  summed 
all  up  in  these  words  :  "  The  calmer  judgment  of  those 
who  have  investigated  the  subject  in  the  light  of  history 
and  of  the  reciprocal  influence  of  the  mind  and  the  nerv- 
ous system,  has  led  judicious  men  to  the  conclusion 
that  these  '  bodily  exercises'  were  the  result  of  natural 
causes,  and  were  only  an  incidental  accompaniment  to 
a  true  work  of  grace  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit." 
Questions  of  bodily  exercises,  like  questions  of  age,  are 
not  the  tests  of  genuine  conviction  or  genuine  faith. 
"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,''  is  the  divine  test ; 
and  the  Church  has  settled  down  to  that  test  as  the  only 
one  given  in  Scripture  or  justified  by  experience. 


THE   GREAT    REVIVAL   OF    1800.  151 

The  revival  of  1800  was,  perhaps,  as  influential  in 
Central  and  Western  New  York  as  in  any  other  part  of 
the  country.  These  "  bodily  exercises "  were  not  so 
prominent  a  feature  in  that  section.  Every  year  the 
General  Assembly  was  cheered  by  reports  of  numerous 
conversions,  and  sometimes  such  reports  came  up  from 
every  Presbytery  within  the  bounds  of  the  Church. 
The  Assembly  declined  to  express  its  opinion  on  the 
origin  and  nature  of  these  "bodily  exercises,"  or  extra-- 
ordinary  affections,  but  spoke  with  pleasure  of  the  gen- 
eral extension  and  prosperity  of  the  Church  throughout 
the  land.  It  is  certain  that  this  great  revival  of  1800 
entirely  changed  the  moral  aspect  of  the  country.  Re- 
ligion, from  being  a  mere  matter  of  contempt  on  the 
part  of  public  men,  became  an  essential  and  influential 
part  of  the  general  public  sentiment  of  the  country. 
How  far  this  revival  may  have  been  either  the  out- 
growth of  the  missionary  spirit  arising  in  the  Old  World, 
or  itself  the  cause  of  the  aggressive  missionary  spirit 
manifested  in  this  country  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  century,  maybe  difficult  to  determine.  It  must 
be  obvious,  however,  that  the  missionary  revival,  and 
the  general  revival  of  religion,  were  together  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  forth  in  blessing  upon  the  Church. 

At  first  the  General  Assembly  took  direct  charge  of 
its  mission  work.  The  persons  to  be  sent  out  as  mis- 
sionaries were  selected  by  the  Assembly,  and  their  com- 
missions signed  by  the  Moderator.  By  the  first  of  this 
century  the  current  of  emigration  had  broken  over  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  and  was  flowing  in  full  streams 
down  all  the  valleys  and  rivers  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
From  Western  New  York,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Western 
Pennsylvania,    West    Virginia,    Kentucky,    Tennessee, 


152  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  Mississippi  urgent  calls  came,  pleading  for  mis- 
sionaries and  the  establishment  of  churches.  Through 
all  these  regions  pastors  went,  under  direction  of  the 
Assemblies,  to  spend  from  two  to  three  months  in  their 
tours.  They  reported  being  received  everywhere  with 
great  interest.  Young  students  of  theology  were  sent 
out  to  exercise  their  gifts.  The  growth  of  the  Church 
increased  the  number  of  licentiates,  and  the  Assembly 
.soon  found  its  time  largely  occupied  by  this  interesting 
missionary  department.  The  missionaries  made  per- 
sonal reports,  sometimes  in  writing,  and  sometimes  in 
oral  addresses,  and  these  were  heard  in  open  Assembly. 
This  would  be  feasible  when  there  were  only  two  or 
three  missionaries  ;  but  when  there  came  to  be  twenty 
or  thirty  missionaries,  it  was  impossible  for  the  As- 
sembly in  open  session  to  hear  the  reports  of  last  year's 
missionaries,  select  men  for  the  coming  year  and  map 
out  the  routes  which  they  were  the  next  year  to  take 
in  their  work.  At  first,  therefore,  the  missionary  busi- 
ness was  referred  to  a  committee,  to  be  transacted  dur- 
ing the  sessions  of  the  Assembly.  When  that  became 
impossible  it  was  decided,  in  1802,  to  choose  a  com- 
mittee annually,  to  be  denominated  the  "  Standing 
Committee  of  Missions."  This  committee  consisted  of 
seven  persons  (four  ministers  and  three  elders),  and 
their  duty  was  to  push  this  missionary  work  in  the  in- 
tervals of  the  Assemblies.  In  1S05  this  committee  was 
enlarged  to  seventeen  members,  and  it  was  made  its 
duty  to  superintend  the  whole  mission  field  of  the  As- 
sembly. In  1 8 1 6  this  "  Standing  Committee  of  Mis- 
sions" was  changed  to  the  "Board  of  Missions,"  and 
authorized  to  act  with  a  large  measure  of  discretionary 
power. 


154  PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  and  the  Synod  of  Vir- 
ginia from  the  outset  managed  the  missionary  business 
within  their  own  bounds.  The  difficulty  the  commis- 
sioners of  their  Presbyteries  found  in  traveling  to  the 
General  Assembly,  at  Philadelphia,  prevented  these 
Synods  from  being  fully  represented.  They  knew  their 
own  work  in  their  territory  best,  and  while  their  re- 
sources were  limited,  and  their  missionaries  not  numer- 
ous, they  did  their  utmost.  But  even  without  counting 
the  missionaries  of  these  two  Synods,  the  growth  of  the 
missions  of  the  Assembly  was  very  rapid.  The  Assem- 
bly sought  to  supply  the  lack  of  men  within  these  Synods, 
and  the  Presbyteries  were  repeatedly  authorized  to  em- 
ploy laborers  at  the  Assembly's  expense.  In  1803  the 
Assembly  appointed  only  five  missionaries,  in  addition 
to  what  was  done  by  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  inde- 
pendently of  the  Assembly.  The  next  time,  however, 
the  Assembly  appointed  twelve.  In  1807  it  appointed 
fifteen.  In  181 1  the  number  had  risen  to  forty.  In 
1814  it  was  over  fifty.  Many  of  the  Synods  and  Pres- 
byteries received  aid  in  sending  out  missionaries  to  the 
Indians.  Indian  missions  were  established  in  New 
York,  in  two  or  three  places  in  Ohio,  as  well  as  in  Ten- 
nessee and  Georgia.  To  carry  on  this  mission  work 
was  a  constant  financial  problem,  and  its  perplexities 
faced  every  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  Urgent  appeals 
were  made  for  annual  collections  in  support  of  the  en- 
terprise. Pastors  were  entreated  to  give  more  or  less 
of  their  time  to  this  work.  During  the  recent  war  it 
was  a  popular  thing  with  pastors  and  churches  to  send 
their  ministers  and  best  laymen,  as  "  Delegates  of  the 
Christian  Commission,"  to  labor  among  the  soldiers  in 
the  field  and  in  the  camps  and  hospitals.      A  very  simi- 


THE   GREAT    REVIVAL   OF    1800.  1 55 

lar  enthusiasm  seems  to  have  been  common  among  the 
churches  and  ministers  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  ; 
and  glorious  results  followed  these  labors,  both  to  the 
pastors  while  on  these  missionary  journeys,  and  to  the 
churches  when  they  returned  home  to  fill  their  people 
with  the  same  zeal. 

The  problem  of  organizing-  churches  in  the  new  dis- 
tricts brought  up  the  question  of  the  relation  between 
the  denominations,  and  urged,  with  special  force,  the 
importance  of  unity  wherever  it  was  at  all  practicable. 
The  Conoregationalists  of  New  England  were  almost 
unanimously  Calvinistic  in  their  faith.  The  preaching 
of  their  ministers  and  the  preaching  of  the  Pres- 
byterian ministers  were  so  similar  that  in  newer 
districts  no  difference  could  be  detected  except  on 
inquiry.  It  was,  therefore,  everywhere  reasonable 
that  all  efforts  should  be  made  to  devise  some  plan  of 
harmonious  co-operation.  The  best  minds  gave  their 
attention  to  this.  As  the  result  of  the  correspondence 
between  the  General  Assembly  and  the  Congregational 
Association  of  Connecticut,  regulated  co-operation  was 
proposed  by  the  Association  in  1801,  and  a  "  Plan  of 
Union  "  was  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly.  In 
1802  this  "  Plan  "  was  reported  unanimously  adopted 
by  the  Connecticut  Association.  It  was  felt  that 
ecclesiastical  forms  should  be  held  subordinate  to 
Christian  effort.  Grave  questions  were  to  be  immedi- 
ately decided  as  to  the  destiny  of  the  country.  The 
combined  influence  of  Presbyterians  and  Congrega- 
tionalists  was  needed  to  control  the  heterogeneous 
elements  from  this  and  other  lands,  as  the  unexampled 
emigration  poured  westward.  New  cities  and  villages 
were    springing   up   along  the  lines  of  traffic,   and  all 


I56  PRESBYTERIANS. 

denominations  would  be  tasked  to  furnish  missionary 
and  pastoral  laborers.  The  first  suggestion  of  the  co- 
operation which  resulted  in  this  plan  of  union  was 
made  by  President  John  Blair  Smith  when  at  Union 
College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  He  was  conversing  with 
Rev.  Eliphalet  Nott,  who,  as  a  young  man,  was  start- 
ing west  on  a  missionary  tour.  Both  were  then,  or 
afterward,  eminent  Presbyterians. 

This  "  Plan  of  Union  "  was  the  sincere  and  earnest 
attempt  of  able  men  to  devise  a  scheme  of  harmonious 
co-operation,  by  which  two  incompatible  systems  of 
church  government  could  be  efficiently  worked  to- 
gether. It  was  arranged  by  the  most  skillful  men  of 
that  day,  and  all  that  could  be  done  was  probably  done 
to  prevent  future  controversies  and  secure  present  and 
permanent  co-operation.  The  plan  allowed  Congrega- 
tional churches  to  settle  Presbyterian  pastors,  or  Pres- 
byterian churches  to  settle  Congregational  pastors.  It 
allowed  the  different  parties  to  this  settlement  to  select 
the  authority  to  which  they  should  appeal  in  case  of 
controversy.  The  Congregational  pastor  of  a  Presby- 
terian church  could  either  appeal  to  a  council  composed 
of  equal  numbers  from  each  denomination,  or  to  his 
own  Association.  In  a  Congregational  church  the 
male  communicants  of  a  church  constituted  the  virtual 
session,  and  yet  from  them  the  appeal  might  be  to  a 
mutual  council  or  to  Presbytery.  In  the  organization 
of  Presbyteries  a  delegate  elected  by  the  church  had  a 
right  to  sit  and  act  as  a  ruling  elder.  From  1  794  the 
delegates  exchanged  between  the  General  Assembly 
and  the  Conoreorational  Association  were  allowed  the 
right  to  sit,  debate  and  vote  in  the  body  to  which  they 
were  delegated. 


THE    GREAT    REVIVAL   OF    180O.  1 57 

The  time  seemed  most  auspicious  for  this  attempt  at 
federation  between  the  Churches.  Many  of  the  Congre- 
gational bodies  in  New  England  had  much  of  the  Pres- 
byterian power  in  their  Associations.  There  was  no 
denominational  jealousy  to  promote  mutual  suspicion. 
In  1799  the  Hartford  North  Association  passed  the 
following  declaration  of  principles  :  "  This  Association 
ofives  information  that  the  Constitution  of  the  Churches 
in  the  State  of  Connecticut  is  founded  on  the  common 
usages,  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Heads  of  Agreement 
and  Articles  of  Church  Discipline  adopted  at  the  ear- 
liest period  of  the  settlement  of  the  State,  and  is  not 
Congregational,  but  contains  the  essentials  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  or  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America.  It  gives  decisive  power  to  ecclesi- 
astical councils.  A  con-sociation  consisting  of  minis- 
ters and  lay  representatives  from  these  churches  is 
possessed  of  substantially  the  same  authority  as  a  Pres- 
bytery. The  churches,  therefore,  in  Connecticut  at 
large,  are  not  now  and  never  were,  from  the  earliest 
period  of  its  settlement,  Congregational  churches  ac- 
cording to  the  ideas  and  forms  of  church  order  con- 
tained in  the  Book  of  Discipline,  called  the  Cambridge 
Platform."  The  Association  goes  on  to  say  that, 
"  there  are  in  the  State  some  ten  or  twelve  un-conso- 
ciated  churches  which  are  properly  Congregational 
churches."  It  was  the  expectation  on  all  hands  that 
co-operation  among  such  Congregationalists  and  the 
Presbyterian  Church  would  practically  be  an  easy  mat- 
ter. The  "  Plan  of  Union  "  authorized  congregations 
to  appoint  committees,  which  committeemen  should 
have  substantially  the  same  power  as  Presbyterian 
elders.     These  committeemen  were  eligible  to  election 


158  PRESBYTERIANS. 

to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Presbyteries  of  which 
the  church  was  a  part.  The  plan  was  believed  to  be 
entirely  feasible,  and  seems  to  have  been  acquiesced  in 
by  all  parties  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  prac- 
tical difficulties  which  were  afterward  developed  were 
not  foreseen. 

For  a  season  all  this  seemed  to  work  according  to 
the  excellent  purposes  of  the  parties.  On  all  sides  re- 
ligion made  rapid  progress,  and  the  multiplication  of 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  showed  the  growth  of  the 
Church.  The  anticipations  of  the  Church  were  expand- 
ing, as  the  denomination  grew  ;  and  while  these  ex- 
pectations have  been  far  surpassed  in  the  actual  out- 
come of  history,  they  were  looked  on  then  as  somewhat 
fanciful.  The  act  of  incorporation  of  the  trustees  of 
the  General  Assembly  was  secured  in  1799,  and  limited 
the  amount  of  property  the  corporation  might  hold  to 
an  annual  income  of  not  over  ten  thousand  dollars. 
As  part  of  the  projects  for  pushing  the  missionary  work 
in  1804,  the  Committee  of  Missions  was  recommended 
to  publish  a  periodical  magazine  sacred  to  religion  and 
morals,  and  pay  the  profits  into  the  funds  of  the  As- 
sembly as  part  of  its  missionary  resources.  The  period- 
ical, however,  like  many  other  subsequent  publishing 
enterprises  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  failed  to  secure 
enough  of  subscribers  to  make  it  self-supporting. 

In  1805  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  brought  before  the  Assem- 
bly an  overture  which  had  far-reaching  influence  upon 
the  policy  of  the  Church.  It  re-echoed  and  concentrated 
the  cry  of  the  missionary  regions,  the  numerous  vacan- 
cies and  the  large  important  towns  and  cities  as  they 
urged  this  plea,  "  Give  us  ministers."  The  overture 
was  laid  over  for  a  year,  and  the  attention  of  the  Pres- 


THE   GREAT   REVIVAL   OF    180O.  1 59 

byteries  called  to  it.  Special  entreaty  was  made  that 
promising  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry  should  be 
uro-ed  to  enter  that  calling.  Parents  were  exhorted  to 
educate  their  children  for  the  Church.  Diligent  efforts 
were  made  to  secure  more  adequate  support  for  the 
ministry,  in  order  to  take  out  of  the  way  the  objection 
of  poverty  made  to  that  calling  by  many  young  per- 
sons. The  trustees  of  Princeton  College  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  General  Assembly,  and  of  the  Presby- 
teries, to  the  fact  that  generous  provision  had  been 
made  at  that  place  for  the  support  and  instruction  of 
theological  students.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  was  at 
this  time  pastor  of  a  church  in  Philadelphia,  and  a 
leading  man  in  the  councils  of  the  denomination.  He 
was  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1807,  and 
opened  the  Assembly  of  1808  with  a  sermon  in  which 
he  made  special  mention  of  the  propriety  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  theological  seminary. 

In  1809  the  General  Assembly  submitted  three  plans 
to  the  Presbyteries.  The  first  proposed  one  great 
school  at  a  central  point  ;  the  second  the  establishment 
of  two,  one  for  the  Northern  and  one  for  the  Southern 
portion  of  the  Church,  and  the  third  proposed  one  for  each 
Synod.  The  reports  of  the  Presbyteries  to  the  Assem- 
bly of  1 8 10  showed  a  preference  throughout  the  Church 
for  one  institution.  A  committee  was  appointed,  with 
Dr.  Ashbel  Green  as  chairman,  to  draw  up  a  constitu- 
tion for  the  proposed  seminary.  The  first  meeting  of 
the  directors  was  held  June  30,  1 8 1 2,  but  the  corner 
stone  of  the  building  was  not  laid  at  Princeton  until  Sep- 
tember 26,  18 1 5.  On  August  12,  1 81 2,  Dr.  Alexander 
was  inaugurated  Professor  of  Didactic  and  Polemic 
Theology,  in  pursuance  of  his  election  by  the  preceding 


i6o 


THE   GREAT    REVIVAL  OF    iSoo.  l6l 

General  Assembly.  A  sketch  of  the  history  of  this 
institution  is  given  elsewhere  (p.  272).  For  years  the 
Assembly  took  the  deepest  interest  in  its  establishment 
and   the  enlargement  of  its  funds. 

To  the  Assembly  of  181  1  Dr.  Rush  presented  one 
thousand  copies  of  his  famous  pamphlet,  "  An  Enquiry 
into  the  Effect  of  Ardent  Spirits  on  the  Human  Body 
and  Mind."  These  were  divided  among  members,  to 
be  distributed  among  congregations.  The  evils  of 
intemperance  had  been  before  the  Church  for  many 
a  year,  and  a  convention  of  laymen  in  1  766  had  laid 
before  the  Synod  a  serious  representation  upon  this  and 
other  objects.  The  Old  Synod  of  that  year  adopted  a 
paper  of  which  Resolution  VII  says  :  "  The  too  great 
use  of  spirituous  liquors  at  funerals  in  some  parts  of 
the  country  is  risen  to  such  a  height  as  greatly  to 
endanger  the  morals  of  many,  and  is  the  cause  of 
much  scandal.  The  Synod  earnestly  enjoins  the  sev- 
eral Sessions  to  take  the  most  efficient  methods  to 
correct  these  mischiefs,  and  to  discountenance,  by  ex- 
ample and  influence,  all  approaches  to  such  practices." 
In  1 81 2  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  was  sorely  discontented 
with  a  paper  adopted  by  the  General  Association  of 
Connecticut,  admitting  the  evils  of  intemperance  but 
doubting  whether  anything  could  be  done.  He  pro- 
posed the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  report  on  the 
ways  and  means  to  arrest  the  tide  of  intemperance.  He 
declared,  nearly  half  a  century  later,  that  his  report  as 
chairman  of  that  committee  was  the  most  important 
paper  he  ever  wrote.  The  General  Assembly  gave  a 
powerful  impulse  to  the  cause  of  this  reform  by  recom- 
mending its  ministers  to  "preach  as  often  as  expe- 
dient on  the  sins  and  mischiefs  of  intemperate  drinking, 


l62  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  to  warn  their  hearers,  both  in  public  and  private, 
of  those  habits  which  have  a  tendency  to  produce  it." 
.  The  same  paper  enjoins  "special  vigilance  on  the  part 
of  Sessions,  by  the  dissemination  of  addresses,  sermons 
and  tracts  on  the  subject ;  to  adopt  practical  measures 
for  reducing- the  number  of  places  at  which  liquors  were 
sold."  The  increased  interest  on  this  subject  of  intem- 
perance was  probably  not  because  the  evil  was  more 
prevalent  at  that  time  than  it  had  been  previously  ;  but 
because  the  revivals  and  the  aggressive  spirit  of  church 
work  had  brought  up  the  general  religious  conscience 
to  a  more  sensitive  appreciation  of  the  evil. 

The  death  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  in  a  duel  with 
Aaron  Burr  in  1804,  startled  the  public  mind  on  the 
subject  of  this  vicious  practice.  In  1805  the  Presby- 
tery of  Baltimore  besought  the  Assembly  to  recommend 
its  ministers  to  refuse  to  officiate  at  the  funeral  of  any- 
one known  to  have  been  concerned  in  a  duel.  Dr. 
Beecher,  in  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
secured  a  solemn  condemnation  of  any  toleration  of 
"the  code  of  honor."  The  General  Assembly  pro- 
nounced "dueling  a  remnant  of  Gothic  barbarism,  and 
a  presumptuous  and  highly  criminal  appeal  to  God, 
and  inconsistent  with  every  just  principle  of  moral  con- 
duct"; and  recommended  that  no  one  who  had  ever 
been  concerned  in  any  way  in  a  duel  should  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  privileges  of  the  Church  without  une- 
quivocal proof  of  repentance. 

The  question  of  slavery  had  been  before  the  Synods 
and  Presbyteries  of  the  Church  throughout  all  the  past 
history  of  the  denomination.  That  question  was  sur- 
rounded with  numerous  perplexing  difficulties.  It  has 
now  passed  out  of    the   range   of    practical    questions. 


THE   GREAT   REVIVAL   OF    180O.  1 63 

How  far  it  may  have  been  the  fundamental  source  of 
the  recent  war  is  to  some  persons  even  yet  a  contro- 
verted question.  It  would  not  be  very  wise  to  occupy 
much  space  in  such  a  history  as  this  with  a  controversy 
now  passed  away.  The  matter  was  brought  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  General  Assembly,  in  1815,  by  petitions 
from  various  sources.  The  question  had  been  raised 
for  a  new  debate  in  the  public  mind  by  the  opening  up 
for  settlement  of  the  Northwest  territory.  The  Synod 
of  Ohio  asked  for  a  deliverance  of  the  Assembly  upon 
the  subject.  For  several  years  various  papers  were 
adopted  by  the  General  Assembly.  These  were  re- 
ceived with  different  sentiments  of  approval  and  disap- 
proval by  various  sections  of  the  Church.  In  1 818  an 
extended  paper  was  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly. 
This  paper  sharply  condemned  the  institution  of  slav- 
ery. In  1836  the  Assembly  declined  to  speak  definitely 
upon  the  subject.  Shortly  thereafter  the  Church  was 
divided  into  the  Old  and  New  School.  Each  branch  had 
then  its  own  debates  upon  the  question.  By  the  time 
reunion  came  in  1870,  slavery  was  abolished,  the  war 
was  over  and  the  question  was  of  importance  mainly  as 
a  matter  of  history. 

The  war  of  181 2  brought  upon  the  country  and  the 
Church  many  of  the  evils  and  distractions  ordinarily  at- 
tendant upon  seasons  of  conflict.  The  demoralization 
was  not  so  serious  to  the  Church  at  this  period  as  might 
have  been  expected.  It  was  largely  prevented  by  the 
constant  revivals  and  the  occupation  of  the  Church  with 
her  great  missionary  work.  During  the  whole  period 
there  was  rapid  growth,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  reports  of 
the  Presbyteries  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1X15. 
The    report  of     1800  had   given    an    account    of     four 


164  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Synods,  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  ministers  and 
licentiates,  four  hundred  and  forty-nine  churches  and 
about  twenty  thousand  church  members,  with  an  esti- 
mated amount  of  benevolent  contributions  of  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars.  To  the  General  Assembly 
of  181 5  there  were  reported  five  hundred  and  twenty 
ministers  and  licentiates,  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
churches,  about  forty  thousand  communicants  and 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars 
as  collections.  There  were  at  this  time  forty-one  Pres- 
byteries, but  five  failed  to  report,  and  their  figures  are 
to  be  added  to  the  above.  The  Church  had  grown  in 
the  fifteen  years  to  about  double  the  size  with  which  it 
had  entered  the  century.  It  had  at  this  time  secured 
fraternal  relations  with  all  such  denominations  as  rea- 
sonably agreed  with  it  in  doctrine  and  policy.  It  had 
thoroughly  caught  the  missionary  spirit  of  the  Christian 
world.  It  had  begun  its  work  of  ministerial  education, 
and  was  enlarging  and  systemizing  its  aggressive  polity. 
Dr.  Gillett  gives  an  admirable  survey  of  the  leading 
minds  who  at  this  period  were  shaping  the  policy  and 
promoting  the  success  of  the  denomination  :  "  Pres- 
ident Nott  of  Union  College  was  then  in  the  zenith  of 
his  fame  ;  eminent  as  a  scholar,  an  orator  and  a  teacher. 
Gardiner  Spring  and  John  B.  Romeyn  were  in  New 
York  ;  the  first  in  the  flush  of  his  youthful  enthusiasm, 
and  faithful  to  the  purpose  which  took  him  from  the  bar 
to  the  pulpit ;  the  second,  of  a  sprightly  and  active  intel- 
lect, a  ready  utterance  and  an  earnestness  of  tone,  man- 
ner and  gesture,  which  dissipated  all  doubts  of  his  sin- 
cerity. Richards  and  Griffin  were  at  Newark  ;  the  first 
was  practical,  sagacious  and  discreet,  a  safe  guide  and  a 
devoted  pastor.      Griffin  was  a  physical  and  intellectual 


THE    GREAT    REVIVAL    OF    l8oO.  165 

giant,  fresh  from  the  battle  with  the  Anakim  of  Boston 
Unitarianism.  Ashbel  Green  was  president  of  Prince- 
ton College,  sound  rather  than  sprightly  in  intellect, 
sternly  conscientious  and  persistent  in  purpose  ;  with 
theories  that  were  convictions  and  convictions  that  were 
acts.  Archibald  Alexander  was  professor  of  theology 
in  the  Theological  Seminary,  fascinating  in  the  pulpit 
and  lovely  in  mind  and  character,  and  destined  for  many 
decades  to  shape  the  views  and  characters  of  hundreds 
of  pastors  in  the  churches.  Associated  with  him  was 
Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  the  model  of  urbane  and  dignified 
deportment,  and  with  a  balance  of  character  which  ex- 
empted his  life  from  the  brilliancy  or  infirmities  of 
genius.  Wilson,  Janeway,  Skinner,  Potts  and  Patterson 
were  in  Philadelphia,  each  with  remarkable  force  of 
character  and  vigor  of  action  and  influence.  West  of 
the  mountains  there  was  John  McMillan,  the  patriarch 
of  the  Ohio  Presbytery  and  the  father  of  Jefferson  Col- 
lege, impetuous  and  almost  irresistible  in  appeals  and 
denunciation.  Matthew  Brown  was  successively  pres- 
ident of  Washington  and  then  of  Jefferson  College, 
who  though  sometimes  impetuous  was  never  shrinking 
or  timid.  Elisha  McCurdy  was  at  Cross  Roads,  in- 
tensely devoted  to  his  pastoral  work,  the  friend  of  mis- 
sions and  a  powerful  revivalist.  The  silver-tongued 
Marquis  was  at  Cross  Creek,  with  an  art  of  persuasion 
well-nigh  perfect.  On  the  South  Atlantic  Coast  Inglis 
and  Glendy  were  at  Baltimore  :  the  first  a  most  accom- 
plished orator,  and  the  second  an  Irish  exile,  even  in  the 
pulpit  venting  his  Irish  wit  and  humor,  but  never  forget- 
ful of  the  elegant  manner  of  a  Christian  gentleman. 
The  sensible,  shrewd  and  genial  Balch  was  at  George- 
town.     Moses   Hoge  was  president  of    Hampden-Sid- 


166  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ney  College,  and  professor  of  theology,  and  his  mind 
was  of  uncommon  vigor,  well  disciplined  and  richly 
stored.  John  H.  Rice  was  at  Richmond,  with  fervent 
piety,  practical  talent  and  lovely  spirit.  George  A. 
Baxter  was  president  of  Washington  College  at  Lex- 
ington, as  modest  as  he  was  great,  with  a  wonderfully 
retentive  memory,  and  a  judgment  that  rarely  erred. 
The  patriotic  Revolutionary  Whig,  David  Caldwell,  was 
a  patriarch  among  the  churches  of  North  Carolina. 
Moses  Waddell  was  at  Wilmington,  and  afterward 
president  of  Georgia  University,  whose  useful  life 
earned  him  the  epithet  of  'blessing  and  to  be  blessed.' 
Blackburn,  Henderson,  Coffin,  Ramsey  and  Anderson 
were  in  Tennessee  ;  Rice,  Cunningham,  Balch,  Blythe, 
Nelson,  Stuart  and  Cleland  were  in  Kentucky  ;  while 
Hoge,  Gilliland  and  the  Wilsons  were  molding  Ohio 
and  the  States  west  of  it.  Others,  less  remembered 
now,  were  doing  their  faithful  work  in  their  varied  and 
difficult  fields.  An  obscure  parish  could  enjoy  then, 
with  less  fear  of  molestation  than  now,  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  a  favorite  pastor.  Many  of  these  quiet 
brethren  added  to  the  limited  support  derived  from  their 
churches  by  cultivating  the  glebes  attached  to  their 
parsonages.  A  resplendent  record  for  many  of  them 
could  be  found  on  the  minutes  of  their  Session  books. 
Their  wisdom  framed  and  their  energies  executed  the 
plans  which  have  resulted  in  equipping  the  Church  for 
her  mission  work,  and  perfecting  measures  for  aggres- 
sive evangelical  efforts." 


ALBERT   BARNES,    D.  D. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

VIGOROUS  GROWTH — DIVISION    INTO  OLD    AND    NEW  SCHOOL 

CHURCHES. 

BLESSED  is  a  nation  when  it  is  making  no  his- 
tory." From  the  American  war  with  England  in 
i  Si  2  to  the  Mexican  war,  comparatively  ljttle  material 
was  furnished  for  the  historian.  The  period  included 
the  "era  of  good  feeling,"  and  more  space  will  be 
occupied  in  history  by  the  five  years  from  i860  to  [865 
than  by  the  twenty-five  years  from  181  5  to  1840.  This 
"era  of  good  feeling  "  was  in  many  respects  an  era  of 
rapid  growth  to  the  Church.  Some  progress  was  made 
in  arranging  for  this  chapter  a  list  of  the  churches 
which  within  the  twenty  years  from  181 5  to  1835  en- 
joyed revivals ;  but  it  was  soon  manifest  that  this 
could  only  amount  to  several  pages  of  names  of 
churches,  and  be  neither  interesting  nor  instructive  to 
the  reader.  Some  idea  of  the  growth  can  be  gained 
from  a  list  of  the  Presbyteries  organized  during  this 
period. 

There  were  organized  as  follows  :  Presbytery  of 
Shiloh  in  1816;  Niagara,  Ontario,  Bath,  Richland  and 
Newton  in  181  7;  Portage,  St.  Lawrence,  Watertown, 
Missouri,  Otsego,  Genessee,  Rochester  and  Steuben- 
ville  in  1818;  Washington  and  North  River  in  1819; 
Troy,  Allegheny  and  Ebenezer  in  1820  ;  Susquehanna, 
Columbus,  Alabama,  South  Alabama,  Georgia,  Cincin- 
nati,  Ogdensburg'  and  St.  Lawrence  in    1821;  Second 

167 


1 68  PRESBYTERIANS. 

New  York,  Second  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  Union 
and  Athens  in  1822  ;  Buffalo  and  Oswego,  District  of 
Columbia,  Huron,  Salem,  Indiana  and  New  Albany  in 
1823;  Newark,  Elizabethtown,  North  Alabama,  Meck- 
lenburg and  Bethel  in  1824  ;  Cortland,  French  Broad, 
Madison,  Wabash,  Vincennes  and  Newburyport  in 
1825  ;  Chenango,  Detroit  and  Holston  in  1826  ;  Trum- 
bull in  1827;  Angelica,  Center  of  Illinois  and  Tombig- 
bee  in  1828;  Bedford,  Tioga,  Oxford,  Crawfordsville, 
East  Hanover,  West  Hanover  and  Western  District  in 
1829  ;  Third  New  York,  Blairsville,  Cleveland,  Indian- 
apolis, Illinois,  Kaskaskia  and  Sangamon  in  1830; 
Delaware,  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles,  Tabor  and  Clinton  in 
1 83 1  ;  Third  Philadelphia,  Second  Long  Island  and 
Montrose  in  1832  ;  Schuyler,  Palestine,  Wilmington, 
Good  Hope,  Flint  River,  St.  Joseph  and  Monroe  in 
1833  ;  Ottawa,  Nashville,  Arkansas,  Tuscaloosa  and 
Woosterin  1834;  Marion,  Logansport,  Roanoake,  Mor- 
gantown,  Amite  and  Louisiana  in  1835  and  Chemung, 
Maumee,  Loraine,  Medina,  Sidney,  Peoria  and  Alton 
in  1836.  In  subsequent  readjustments  of  the  bound- 
aries of  Synods  and  Presbyteries  many  of  these  Pres- 
byteries had  their  names  changed,  or  were  consolidated 
with  other  Presbyteries,  taking  an  entirely  new  name. 
By  subsequent  changes  the  old  names  would  be  revived 
or  adopted  by  some  new  Presbytery  elsewhere.  The 
wide  sweep  of  country  through  which  this  growth  man- 
ifested itself  will  be  perhaps  better  indicated  by  the 
new  Synods  which  were  organized  during  this  period. 
The  Synod  of  Ohio  had  been  organized  in  18 14. 
There  were  afterward  organized  :  the  Synod  of  Tennes- 
see in  181  7;  the  Synod  of  Genesee  in  1821  ;  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey  in  1823  ;  the  Synod  of  Western  Reserve 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH    AND    DIVISION.  169 

in  1825;  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  in  1826;  the 
Synod  of  Indiana  in  1826  ;  the  Synod  of  Utica  in  1829  ; 
the  Synod  of  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama  in  1829  ; 
the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  in  1829;  the  Synod  of  Illinois 
in  1831  ;  the  Synod  of  Missouri  in  1832  ;  the  Synod  of 
Chesapeake  in  1833;  the  Synod  of  Michigan  in  1834; 
the  Synod  of  Delaware  in  1834  ;  the  Synod  of  Alabama 
in   1835. 

Yet  even  this  exhibit  of  the  new  Synods  and  Pres- 
byteries does  not  fairly  show  the  actual  growth  of  the 
Church.  In  181 5  there  were  forty-one  Presbyteries, 
and  in  1834  there  were  one  hundred  and  eighteen  Pres- 
byteries, the  number  being  almost  trebled  in  twenty 
years.  But  the  total  church  membership  in  181 5  was 
39,685,  and  in  1834  the  report  to  the  General  Assembly 
showed  a  membership  of  247,964.  This  was  a  growth 
of  more  than  600  per  cent.  When  an  individual  church 
increases  from  a  church  membership  of  fifty  to  a  church 
membership  of  five  hundred,  it  still  only  counts  one 
church  on  the  roll  of  the  General  Assembly  ;  but  it 
exhibits  a  great  difference  in  the  size  and  strength  of 
the  church.  From  being  a  dependent  church  aided  by 
others,  it  has  become  a  strong  church  and  a  large  giver 
to  mission  work.  To  hundreds  of  churches  this  trans- 
formation came  during  these  twenty  years.  It  was  a 
period  of  somewhat  aggressive  competition  between 
denominations,  and  the  mutual  emulation  between  them 
increased  the  number  of  church  members,  the  amount 
of  individual  gifts  and  the  general  compactness  of  or- 
ganization everywhere. 

These  revivals  and  missionary  successes  kept  increas- 
ing, rather  than  diminishing  the  importunate  cry  for 
more  ministers.      The  establishment  of  the    Board   of 


170  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Domestic  Missions  in  1816,  and  the  erection  of  the 
Board  of  Education  in  1819,  gave  the  adequate  church 
organizations  for  equipping  candidates  for  the  ministry 
and  securing  for  them  suitable  locations  and  measurable 
support  when  they  were  ready  to  enter  upon  their 
work.  It  was  a  period  remarkable  for  the  multiplica- 
tion of  colleges  and  theological  seminaries.  The  early 
experiments  in  this  line  met  with  decided  success,  though 
institutions  here  and  there  differed  greatly  in  the  degree 
and  continuance  of  prosperity.  As  a  result,  every  sec- 
tion became  anxious  to  have  its  own  institution.  There 
was  then,  as  there  always  has  been  since,  a  feeling  that, 
when  the  young  men  of  a  Presbytery  are  sent  out  to 
some  distant  section  for  their  collegiate  or  theological 
training,  the  churches  in  that  more  favored  locality  se- 
cure the  abler  students,  while  the  churches  at  home 
that  furnished  the  men  are  left  neglected.  If  the  Pa- 
cific Coast  is  to  retain  her  sons  for  a  life-work  among 
her  own  people,  she  must  see  to  it  that  colleges  and 
theological  seminaries  are  well  equipped  on  her  own 
ground  for  educational  work.  This  feeling  has  been 
crystallizing  into  the  shape  of  a  Board  of  Aid  for  Col- 
leges and  Academies  in  the  recent  history  of  the  denom- 
ination. 

The  following  seminaries  were  established  in  the 
order  named  :  Auburn  (New  York),  18 19  ;  Union  (Vir- 
ginia), 1824;  Western  (Allegheny),  1827;  Lane  (Cin- 
cinnati), 1829;  McCormick  (Hanover,  1830;  Chicago, 
1859),  and  Columbia  (South  Carolina),  1831.  The  fol- 
lowing interesting  list  of  colleges  established  during 
this  period  is  taken  from  the  report  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  for  1889,  and  the  date  of  their 
opening  is  here  given  :  Maryville,  Tenn.,  18 19  ;  Centre, 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH   AND    DIVISION.  171 

Ky.,  1821  ;  Franklin,  O.,  1825;  Hanover,  Ind.,  1828; 
Lafayette,  Pa.,  1832;  Wabash,  Ind.,  1833  ;  Marietta, 
O.,    1835. 

The  great  impulse  toward  this  system  of  collegiate 
and  theological  seminary  education  was  given  to  the 
Church  during  the  period  now  under  review.  There 
were  frequent  revivals  in  these  colleges,  and,  as  the  re- 
sult of  these  revivals,  many  young  men  consecrated 
themselves  to  the  ministry,  who  afterward  became  men 
of  power  and  leadership  in  the  Church. 

Various  matters  of  importance  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Church  and  the  public  throughout  this 
period.  In  1818  steps  were  taken  for  the  preparation 
of  a  digest  of  the  acts  of  the  early  Synod  and  the 
General  Assembly.  Frequent  committees  had  been 
appointed  for  this  purpose;  but  it  was  not  until  1820 
that  the  volume  was  finally  completed  and  given  to  the 
public.  Committees  had  been  often  appointed  to  pre- 
pare a  history  of  the  Church,  and  Presbyteries  and 
Synods  were  solicited  to  furnish  sketches  of  their  own 
organization,  and  of  the  churches  under  them.  These 
committees  labored  faithfully,  and  all  too  successfully,  to 
gather  this  material.  The  quantity  has  become  enor- 
mous, and  the  historian  turns  away  from  the  accumu- 
lated mass  in  blank  despair.  In  the  present  on-going 
of  God's  providence,  and  the  freshness  of  new  duties 
and  new  achievements,  the  hurrying  world  is  too  busy 
to  read  up  the  local  details  and  minutiae  of  past  min- 
isters, churches  and  Presbyteries. 

The  great  absorbing  event  of  this  period  was  the  divi- 
sion of  the  Church  first  into  two  parties  and  then  into 
two  denominations.  Hon.  James  P.  Sterrett,  when  a 
judge  of  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  was  once  look- 


172  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ing  at  a  curious  collection  of  bitter  pamphlets  connected 
with  the  controversies  about  the  location  of  Washing-- 
ton  and  Jefferson  College  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 
Closing  the  book,  he  said  :  "  Those  are  very  curious 
and  interesting.  In  my  opinion  they  will  do  most 
good  in  the  fire."  Part  of  the  agreement  between  the 
denominations  at  the  time  of  Reunion  is  contained  in 
the  following  from  the  Tenth  Concurrent  Declaration  : 
"  It  shall  be  regarded  as  the  duty  of  all  our  judica- 
tories, ministers  and  people  in  the  united  Church,  to 
study  the  things  which  make  for  peace,  and  guard 
against  all  needless  and  offensive  references  to  the 
causes  that  have  divided  us."  In  that  spirit  it  is  not 
proposed  here  to  give  in  detail  the  account  of  those 
controversies,  but,  as  impartially  as  possible,  a  state- 
ment of  the  questions  debated  at  the  time. 

The  "  Plan  of  Union  "  adopted  in  1802  was  an  earnest 
effort  to  make  out  some  workable  scheme,  whereby  two 
denominations  agreeing  in  doctrine,  but  differing  funda- 
mentally as  to  church  management,  could  work  to- 
gether without  friction.  In  practice  it  was  found  that 
the  independency  of  the  Congregational  side  secured 
irresponsibility  for  what  was  done,  while  the  organized 
solidity  of  the  Presbyterians  made  every  part  responsi- 
ble for  every  course  adopted  by  any  section  of  the 
entire  body.  The  "  Plan  of  Union  "  did  not  decide 
whether  or  not  Presbyteries  were  authorized  to  elect 
"  committeemen  "  to  the  Assembly.  As  early  as  1825  the 
question  came  to  be  raised  as  to  the  right  of  such  persons 
to  a  seat  and  vote  in  the  General  Assembly.  The  fact 
that  they  were  "  committeemen,"  and  not  elders,  seemed 
good  evidence  that  neither  they  nor  their  churches 
were  out-and-out  Presbyterians  in  their  preferences. 


VIGOROUS    GROWTH    AND    DIVISION. 


173 


The  early  practice  with  reference  to  corresponding 
delegates  sent  by  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Con- 
gregational Associations  of  New  England,  or  received 
by  the  General  Assembly  as  delegates  from  them,  was 
somewhat  various.  At  first  these  delegates  were  what 
is  known  as  "  corresponding  members,"  with  the  right 
to  speak  but  not  the  right  to  vote.      In  1794,  however, 


S-tttt 


' 


w 


PARDEE    HALL,    LAFAYETTE   COLLEGE,    EASTON,    PA. 

the  arrangement  wras  made  by  which  they  should  also 
have  the  right  to  vote  in  the  body  to  which  they  were 
delegated.  In  due  course  of  time  the  propriety  of  this 
practice  came  to  be  seriously  doubted  ;  and  in  1827  a 
proposition  was  made  that  this  right  of  voting  should 
cease.  The  Association  of  Massachusetts  objected  to 
this,  but  her  consent  to  it  was  had  in  1830.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  having  thus  decided  that  delegates  from 
Congregational  Associations  should  not  have  the  right 
to  vote,  an  effort  was  made:  to  apply  the  same  rule 
to  the  representatives  who  came  from  the  "  Plan  of 
Union"   churches.      The   first   case   that    came    up  for 


174  PRESBYTERIANS. 

decision  was  in  1820,  but  the  General  Assembly  decided 
that  a  "committeeman"  sent  by  a  Presbytery  had  the 
same  rigdit  as  a  rulino-  elder  would  have  had.  In  1826 
a  delegate  was  present  who  was  not  even  a  "committee- 
man "  in  his  own  church.  The  Assembly  decided  to 
admit  him,  but  the  decision  was  met  with  a  protest  hav- 
ing forty-two  signers.  In  1831  a  similar  decision  of  the 
Assembly  received  a  more  elaborate  protest  signed  by 
sixty-eight  members.  In  1832  "committeemen"  were 
among  the  delegates,  but  after  submitting  their  commis- 
sions they  finally  withdrew  them,  and  the  Assembly 
passed  a  resolution  that  the  "  Plan  of  Union,"  rightly 
construed,  does  not  authorize  any  "committeeman"  to 
sit  and  act  in  any  case  in  Synod  or  in  the  General  As- 
sembly. 

By  this  time  the  missionary  work  of  the  Church  had 
grown  to  such  magnitude  that  the  question  of  its 
management  became  one  of  the  very  first  importance. 
As  has  been  stated,  the  decisions  of  the  General  As- 
sembly were  not  uniform  on  the  rights  of  "committee- 
men." No  unanimous  decision  could  be  had.  As  the 
mission  work  was  largely  one  of  growth,  naturally 
enough  considerable  sensitiveness  was  manifest  with 
regard  to  the  society  which  was  to  superintend  and 
push  this  expanding  work.  Whoever  managed  that 
work  would  naturally  have  the  sympathy  of  the  mission- 
aries who  were  sent  out  to  the  churches  where  these 
missionaries  were  laboring,  and  of  the  home  churches 
from  whom  the  contributions  were  drawn.  Here  again 
was  the  most  obtrusive  point  of  division.  The  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society  represented  both  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  Congregationalists.  Large  num- 
bers of  its  directors  were  leading  Presbyterian  ministers 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH   AND    DIVISION.  175 

and  laymen.  They  believed  in  the  sincerity  of  the 
zeal  of  that  society,  and  the  possibility  of  a  joint  work 
being-  carried  on  through  it  by  the  two  denominations. 
Another  large  section  of  the  Church  believed  that  the 
presence  of  the  Congregationalists  in  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  injurious  to  the  general  interests  of 
Presbyterianism  in  its  hands.  A  preponderance  of 
Congregationalists  would  be  probable  in  a  congregation 
under  a  Congregationalist  as  a  pastor.  All  this  was 
unfavorable  to  the  prospect  of  that  church  becoming 
a  thorough-going  Presbyterian  congregation.  Steadily 
there  grew  up  a  party  earnestly  in  favor  of  both  Home 
and  Foreign  Missionary  organizations  controlled  by  the 
General  Assembly,  supported  by  contributions  from  its 
churches,  and  sending  out  its  own  Presbyterian  min- 
isters as  missionaries.  Year  after  year  this  question 
of  denominational  missionary  societies  was  carefully 
debated  in  the  General  Assembly,  with  the  predomi- 
nance of  view  sometimes  on  the  one  side  and  sometimes 
on  the  other.  Committees  of  conference  were  ap- 
pointed from  the  General  Assembly  to  meet  with  com- 
mittees from  undenominational  mission  societies;  but 
no  plan  could  be  finally  agreed  upon  which  was  accept- 
able to  all  parties. 

A  further  circumstance,  outside  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  greatly  tending  to  the  development  of  parties, 
was  "Hopkinsianism,"  and  the  "New  Haven  Divinity." 
Many  leading  men  believed  that  "  Hopkinsianism  " 
was  only  another  name  for  Pelagianism.  It  was  a 
system  of  doctrine  which  took  its  name  from  Dr. 
Samuel  Hopkins  of  Newport,  R.  I.  It  had  various 
degrees  of  intensity  or  of  error,  generally  determined 
by  the  individual  person  who  was  supposed  to  hold  the 


176  PRESBYTERIANS. 

system.  The  "  New  Haven  Divinity"  was  generally 
recognized  as  originating  with  Dr.  N.  VV.  Taylor.  His 
speculations  and  those  of  his  sympathizers  were  looked 
upon  with  sincere  alarm  by  many  prominent  men  in 
New  England  and  elsewhere.  It  was  easy  to  charge 
these  doctrines  on  peculiar  men  anywhere.  About  the 
same  time  "  certain  new  measures"  in  conducting  re- 
vivals in  connection  with  the  labors  of  evangelists 
awakened  much  concern.  These  "  new  measures " 
were  to  a  considerable  extent  introduced  by  Mr.  C.  G. 
Finney  in  Western  New  York.  His  labor  was  greatly 
blessed,  and  in  his  hands  his  methods  were  very  effec- 
tive. His  imitators,  however,  carried  measures  to  ex- 
tremes altogether  unprecedented.  Mr.  Finney's  popu- 
larity, and  the  power  of  the  revival,  for  the  time  for- 
bade any  general  resistance  to  measures  which  were 
supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the  system.  Men  hastily  as- 
sumed the  office  of  evangelist  and  adopted  questiona- 
ble measures,  and  were  guilty  of  extravagances  which 
worked  only  mischief.  Mr.  Nettleton  and  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher  strongly  condemned  many  of  these  practices. 
Presbyteries  and  ministers  in  Western  New  York  ear- 
nestly resisted  them,  and  the  permanent  results  were  not 
so  injurious  as  at  first  anticipated.  The  prospect  of  a 
division  was  greatly  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  di- 
viding lines  on  all  these  different  questions  seemed  to 
be  found  at  about  the  same  place,  and  the  same  lead- 
ers were  found  on  the  same  side  of  most  questions. 

By  1835  tne  friends  of  denominational  missionary 
societies  and  of  the  abrogation  of  the  "  Plan  of  Union  " 
had  come  to  feel  the  necessity  of  conference  and  or- 
ganization. A  convention  of  such  persons  was,  there- 
fore, held  just  previous  to  the   meeting  of  the  General 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH    AND    DIVISION.  177 

Assembly.  At  this  convention  the  whole  situation  was 
discussed,  and  the  Old  School  party,  which  made  up 
the  mass  of  the  convention,  reached  an  understanding 
among  its  members.  By  this  time  there  was  a  very 
considerable  portion  of  the  leaders  of  the  Old  School 
side,  who  had  made  up  their  minds  that  permanent 
peace  and  unity  were  both  impracticable  and  undesira- 
ble. They  believed  that  division  was  necessary  to 
purity  and  safety,  and  plans  were  steadily  adhered  to 
in  furtherance  of  separation.  The  New  School  party 
had  no  desire  for  separation.  Whatever  correspond- 
ence there  may  have  been  among  the  leaders  of  that 
party,  there  was  no  assembling  of  them  together  until 
after  the  separation  actually  took  place.  Indeed,  the 
Auburn  convention  is  probably  the  only  unofficial  as- 
sembly ever  held  by  the  New  School  party.  When 
the  General  Assembly  of  1835  was  organized,  among 
its  other  resolutions  it  appointed  a  committee  to  con- 
sider the  propriety  of  the  adoption  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
which  had  been  organized  by  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh. 
This  committee  was  authorized  to  accomplish  the  con- 
solidation. The  General  Assembly  of  1835  might  be 
called  an  Old  School  Assembly  by  a  decided  majority  ; 
but  the  General  Assembly  of  1836  had  a  majority  of 
New  School  men  in  its  membership.  The  committee 
appointed  in  1835  to  consider  the  transfer  of  the 
Western  Missionary  Society  to  the  control  of  the 
General  Assembly  had,  as  far  as  they  had  authority, 
performed  that  task.  This  step  was  not  acceptable  to 
the  majority  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1836.  If 
the  General  Assembly  had  approved  the  act  of  their 
committee   it   would  have  bound  the    Church   to  sepa- 


178  PRESBYTERIANS. 

rate  ecclesiastical  action  in  the  matter  of  its  mission 
work.  The  majority  of  the  Assembly  was  not  in  favor 
of  this  step.  The  course  of  the  majority  in  1836  was 
unsatisfactory  to  the  Old  School  men. 

As  a  result,  when  the  General  Assembly  adjourned, 
there  was  a  wide  understanding  that,  previous  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  1837,  there  should  be  another 
convention  held  of  those  in  favor  of  independent 
missionary  action.  To  that  convention,  and  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  1837,  the  opponents  of  the  "  Plan 
of  Union  "  and  of  voluntary  missionary  societies  sent 
their  ablest  leaders.  It  was  the  scarcely  disguised  pur- 
pose of  that  convention  to  work  for  the  division  of  the 
Church  ;  but  its  councils  were  very  much  divided,  owing 
to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  state  of  the  vote  when  the 
General  Assembly  should  be  organized.  If  the  Old 
School  party  should  be  in  the  majority  in  the  Assembly, 
the  plans  of  the  convention  might  be  safely  carried  out. 
If,  however,  the  New  School  party  should  be  in  the  ma- 
jority, it  might  be  necessary  for  the  Old  School  party  to 
go  out  of  the  body,  and  undertake  the  task  of  setting 
up  an  independent  denomination.  This  raised  all  the 
perplexities  of  property  rights  and  successorship  to  the 
General  Assembly.  In  the  midst  of  these  uncertainties 
no  definite  plan  could  be  agreed  upon. 

When  the  Assembly  convened,  however,  it  was 
found  that  the  Old  School  party  had  a  very 
decided  majority,  and  their  candidate  for  Moderator 
was  elected  by  a  vote  of  137  to  106.  If  this  majority 
could  be  held  together  it  was  obvious  that  the  whole 
authority  of  the  General  Assembly  could  be  employed 
to  carry  out  the  views  of  the  Old  School  party.  One 
of  the   earliest   steps  taken  was  to  abrogate  the  "  Plan 


VIGOROUS  GROWTH   AND   DIVISION.  1 79 

of  Union  "  as  being-  from  the  outset  unconstitutional, 
and,  in  its  practical  working,  injurious.  After  the  abro- 
gation of  the  "Plan  of  Union,"  the  next  step  was  to 
cut  off  from  the  Church  at  large  the  Presbyteries,  Synods 
and  churches  organized  in  accordance  with  the  "  Plan 
of  Union,"  and  which  might  be  determined  to  adhere 
to  it.  There  was  a  protracted  debate  over  the  consti- 
tutionality of  such  an  action,  The  Synod  of  Western 
Reserve  was  made  the  test  case.  The  resolution  offered 
was  to  this  effect :  "  That  by  the  operation  of  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  'Plan  of  Union  '  of  1801,  the  Synod  of 
Western  Reserve  is,  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be  no 
longer  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States  of  America."  Against  this  it  was  argued  that 
the  constitution  of  the  Church  made  no  provision  for 
any  such  exscinding  act  on  the  part  of  the  General 
Assembly,  by  which,  without  trial,  a  Synod  could  be  cut 
off  from  the  Church.  This  method  of  cutting  off  a 
Synod  by  a  resolution  was  held  to  be  judgment  with- 
out trial,  and  condemnation  without  any  other  testi- 
mony than  general  rumor.  The  New  School  party 
held  that  it  was  wholly  unnecessary  as  well  as  un- 
brotherly,  and  if  there  was  either  doctrinal  error  or 
practical  disorder  in  any  Presbytery  or  Synod,  the  As- 
sembly was  bound,  before  reaching-  a  conclusion,  to  give 
the  accused  party  a  full  hearing  and  a  fair  trial.  The 
advocates  of  the  above  resolution  held  that  the  obliga- 
tion of  maintaining  the  purity  of  the  Church  finally 
rested  upon  the  General  Assembly  ;  that,  however  good 
the  intentions  mioht  have  been  when  the  "  Plan  of 
Union"  was  first  adopted,  its  practical  workings  had 
been  to  import  into  the  Church  persons  who  were  not 
in  sympathy  with   the   Presbyterian   system   of  govern- 


l8o  PRESBYTERIANS. 

merit ;  and  that  the  only  possible  course  which  could 
be  effective  was  to  exclude  from  the  judicatories  of 
the  Church  those  who  were  not  in  sympathy  with  a 
vigorous  administration  of  the  denominational  policy. 
When  after  the  debate  the  Assembly  finally  came  to 
vote,  the  resolution  cutting  off  the  Western  Reserve 
Synod  was  passed  by  132  ayes  to  105  nays. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  passage  of  this  resolu- 
tion, another  was  adopted  "  affirming  that  the  organi- 
zation and  operation  of  the  so-called  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  and  American  Educational  Society, 
and  its  branches  of  whatever  name,  are  exceedingly 
injurious  to  the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  We  recommend,  therefore,  that  they  cease  to 
operate  in  any  of  our  churches."  This  resolution  was 
carried  by  a  vote  of  124  to  86.  Subsequently,  a  reso- 
lution was  proposed  that  the  same  action  which  had 
been  taken  with  reference  to  the  Synod  of  Western 
Reserve  should  also  be  adopted  in  regard  to  the 
Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva  and  Genesee.  This  was 
offered  on  Saturday,  and  it  was  not  until  the  next 
Monday  afternoon  that  the  vote  could  be  reached. 
At  that  time,  by  a  vote  of  1 15  to  88,  these  Synods  were 
"  declared  to  be  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  not  in  form  or  in  fact  an 
integral  portion  of  said  Church."  These  resolutions 
were  known  in  the  history  of  the  times  as  the  "  Ex- 
scinding Acts,"  and  the  debates  as  to  their  necessity 
and  constitutionality  then  and  since  have  been  very 
thorough-going.  That  part  of  the  Church  which  was 
led  by  the  Princeton  Review  at  the  time  expressed 
great  doubts  about  the  expediency  of  the  step,  and 
many  of  those  who   held   strongly  to  the  right  of  the 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH   AND    DIVISION.  l8 1 

General  Assembly  to  take  such  action  gravely  doubted 
the  wisdom  thereof. 

By  the  adoption  of  these  Exscinding  Acts  the  friends 
of  the  voluntary  missionary  societies  were  greatly  di- 
minished ;  and  the  General  Assembly  had  in  it  a  clear, 
strong,  working  majority  of  those  in  favor  of  denomina- 
tional missionary  societies  under  the  control  of  the 
General  Assembly.  Almost  without  discussion,  there- 
fore, a  constitution  was  adopted  for  a  General  Assem- 
bly's Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  churches  were 
urged  to  rally  to  its  support.  Earnest  protests  were 
offered  against  all  these  acts,  and  in  these  protests  the 
arguments  against  the  constitutionality  of  the  "  Exscind- 
ing Acts,"  as  well  as  against  their  expediency  and  neces- 
sity, were  fully  stated.  In  the  reply  of  the  General 
Assembly  to  these  protests  the  majority  declared  it  "pain- 
ful to  them  to  declare  that  the  bodies  in  which  were 
brethren  whose  piety  we  cannot  question,  and  whose  ac- 
tivity in  extending  the  visible  Church  we  must  regard 
with  approbation,  to  be  no  longer  connected  with  the 
body.  We  could  not  hope,"  they  went  on  to  say,  "  that 
they  would  walk  together  in  peace  with  us."  A  long 
paper  on  doctrinal  errors  was  also  adopted  by  the  Assem- 
bly ;  but  the  main  protest  raised  against  it  was  that, 
impliedly,  it  charged  the  members  of  the  exscinded 
Synods  with  holding  the  doctrinal  errors  therein  con- 
demned. This  was  distinctly  denied  by  the  signers  of 
the  protest,  and  considerable  quotation  of  testimony, 
on  the  part  of  those  who  had  good  right  to  know,  was 
offered  to  show  that  such  errors  were  not  held  by  one- 
tenth  part  of  the  ministry  of  the  Church. 

The  year  between  the  Assembly  of  1837  and  1838 
was  a  year  of  great  ecclesiastical  agitation.     The  ques- 


182  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tion  of  the  division  of  the  General  Assembly  took  a 
large  part  of  the  Church  by  surprise,  and  the  necessity 
of  it  many  did  not  see.  There  was  much  uncertainty  as 
to  the  course  which  would  be  adopted  by  the  Assembly 
of  1838  when  it  should  convene.  It  is  not  certain  that 
any  of  the  friends  of  the  "exscinded  Synods"  antici- 
pated the  actual  shape  in  which  the  controversy  was 
renewed  in  1838.  That  Assembly  was  opened  with  a 
sermon  by  the  retiring  Moderator,  Rev.  David  Elliot, 
D.  D.,  on  Isaiah  60 :  1  :  "  Arise,  shine  ;  for  thy  light  is 
come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee." 
Immediately  on  the  opening  of  the  Assembly,  an  un- 
usually delicate  and  difficult  question  arose  for  the  de- 
cision of  the  Moderator,  The  clerks  of  the  Assembly 
had  made  up  the  roll  of  the  Assembly  by  omitting  the 
names  of  the  delegates  from  the  four  "exscinded 
Synods."  The  ordinary  course  to  be  pursued,  when 
there  are  persons  present  with  doubtful  commissions,  is 
to  elect  a  Moderator,  and  then  have  a  Committee  of 
Elections  appointed,  to  whom  all  such  doubtful  com- 
missions shall  be  referred.  That  course,  however, 
would  prevent  the  delegates  from  the  Presbyteries  in 
these  four  Synods  from  participating  in  the  election  of 
officers.  When  the  roll  was  called  by  the  clerks,  the 
names  of  the  commissioners  from  those  Presbyteries 
were  found  to  be  omitted.  A  member  then  demanded 
that  they  be  enrolled.  The  Moderator  decided  that, 
by  the  act  of  the  previous  Assembly,  he  could  not  recog- 
nize their  right  to  sit  without  further  action  of  this 
house.  From  that  decision  of  the  Moderator  an  appeal 
was  taken  to  the  house,  but  the  Moderator  decided  it 
out  of  order  at  that  time.  A  motion  was  then  made  to 
complete  the  roll  by  adding  the   names  of  those  com- 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH    AND    DIVISION.  183 

missioners.  This  also  was  decided  out  of  order,  as 
was  also  an  appeal  from  the  chair.  The  Moderator  in- 
sisted that  the  house  was  the  only  judge  of  the  qualifi- 
cation of  its  members,  and  that  the  first  business  was 
its  organization  by  the  election  of  officers.  There  had 
been  some  previous  conference  among  those  who  de- 
nied the  right  of  the  last  Assembly  to  exclude  those 
Synods,  as  to  the  course  that  should  be  pursued  in  case 
their  names  were  omitted  from  the  roll.  Their  lawyers 
advised  them  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  them  to 
organize  the  Assembly  at  that  time,  and  in  that  place, 
in  the  presence  of  the  other  party,  by  the  election  of  a 
Moderator  and  other  officers,  in  order  legally  to  ad- 
journ to  another  place.  In  the  midst  of  much  con- 
fusion and  many  calls  to  order,  Rev.  John  P.  Cleave- 
land,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Detroit,  rose  and  read  a  paper 
declaring-  that  whereas,  certain  commissioners  had  been 
refused  their  rights  as  members,  and  the  Moderator  had 
refused  to  do  his  duty,  he,  therefore,  moved  that  Dr. 
Beman,  Moderator  of  a  previous  Assembly,  take  the  chair 
until  another  Moderator  should  be  chosen.  This  motion 
was  put  and  carried  by  a  very  loud  "aye."  Dr.  Beman 
took  his  station  in  the  aisle  of  the  church,  and  a  motion 
that  Erskine  Mason  and  E.  W.  Gilbert  be  appointed 
clerks  was  made  and  carried.  Dr.  S.  Eisher  was  then 
elected  permanent  Moderator,  and  the  Assembly,  thus 
constituted,  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  New  School  part  of  the  body  then  with- 
drew from  the  house,  and  proceeded  to  business  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church.  It  will  be  seen  that  no 
vote  was  taken  which  would  tell  precisely  what  would 
have  been  the  constitution  of  the  house  in  case  all  the 
members  present  from  the  exscinded  Synods  had  been 


1 84  PRESBYTERIANS. 

allowed  to  vote.      It  is  probable  that  the  majority  would 
not  have  been  more  than  from  four  to  six  either  way. 

The  fact  that  the  civil  courts  decided  both  ways 
shows  that  the  question  of  right  was  not  a  clear  one. 
Its  decision  depended  upon  rulings  not  provided  for  in 
general  parliamentary  practice.  If  due  allowance  be 
made  for  the  conscientious  zeal  of  two  parties  of  Chris- 
tian people  in  behalf  of  interests  they  supposed  to  be 
vital  to  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  new  ques- 
tion which  was  up  for  decision,  on  which  the  Moderator 
and  members  were  compelled  to  act  without  any  prece- 
dent to  guide  them,  we  shall,  at  this  day,  probably  look 
back  upon  the  whole  transaction  as  due  to  a  mixture  of 
religious  zeal,  human  imperfection,  sincere  purpose  and 
party  spirit  generated  by  emulation  in  a  good  cause. 
More  than  half  a  century  has  now  gone  by,  and  both 
sides  have  tested  their  theories  in  actual  church  work. 
Neither  side  can  say  to  the  other,  "  We  were  always 
right  in  everything,  and  in  everything  you  have  found 
out  that  you  were  wrong."  When  time  had  proved 
that  there  were  no  serious  doctrinal  differences  between 
the  parties,  the  practical  questions  settled  themselves. 
Presbyterians  have  never  held  that  methods  of  church 
work  were  settled  in  Scripture  by  a  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord."  Parties  may  differ  widely  beforehand  in  their 
expectations  as  to  the  success  their  favorite  plans  will 
attain.  But  if,  in  practice,  one  surpasses  the  other,  the 
party  which  is  falling  behind  is  generally  not  hard  to 
convince.  Both  sides  had  their  lessons  to  learn,  and 
being  sincere  both  were  willing  to  yield  to  the  resistless 
logic  of  actual  results. 

The  general,   but    mistaken    impression,    that    there 
were  doctrinal  differences  between  the  Old  and  the  New 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH    AND    DIVISION.  185 

School,  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that,  just  as  the 
parties  were  forming",  there  were  three  famous  ecclesi- 
astical trials  in  the  Church.  The  ministers  thus  accused 
were  ultimately  members  of  the  New  School  body.  In 
all  these  three  cases  the  result  left  the  accused  in  good 
standing  in  the  ministry,  and  with  the  reputation  of 
being  sound  evangelical  preachers.  Nevertheless,  the 
clamor  connected  with  the  trials,  first  in  the  Presby- 
teries and  afterward  by  an  appeal  in  the  Synods  and 
then  to  the  General  Assembly,  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  public  mind. 

The  first  of  these  trials  was  that  of  Dr.  George 
Dufiield  of  Carlisle,  Pa.  He  was  accused  of  stating 
erroneous  views  in  a  book  published  by  him  on 
"  Regeneration."  The  Presbytery  condemned  the 
obnoxious  positions  pointed  out  by  the  report  of  a 
committee  of  investigation.  Dr.  Dufiield  denied  that 
he  held  the  view  alleged  against  him,  or  that  these 
views  were  taught  in  his  book.  Presbytery  decided  to 
inflict  no  further  censure  on  him  than  to  warn  him  to 
"guard  against  dangerous  speculations,  and  to  study 
to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 
This  action  of  Presbytery  was  disapproved  by  Synod  ; 
but  Dr.  Duffield  shortly  afterward  received  and  accepted 
a  call  to  a  church  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  subsequently 
settled  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  as  pastor  there  of  the  First 
Church,  and  died  suddenly  in  1867,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three.  He  lived  to  enjoy  the  universal  esteem 
of  his  brethren. 

Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  was  called  from  Boston  to  the 
Professorship  of  Theology  in  Lane  Seminary,  in  1830. 
He  entered  upon  his  duties  in  1832,  and  the  spring  of 
the  following  year  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Second 


1 86  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Cincinnati.  He  was  charged 
by  Dr.  Joshua  L.  Wilson  with  holding  Pelagian  and 
Arminian  doctrines.  Both  the  prosecutor  and  the 
accused  were  men  of  extraordinary  ability.  By  a  vote 
of  nearly  two  to  one  the  Presbytery  decided  that  the 
charges  were  not  sustained.  The  case  was  appealed  to 
Synod,  and  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  was  sustained 
by  that  body.  It  was  then  appealed  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  should  have  reached  that  body  in  1836. 
The  case  was,  however,  withdrawn  from  the  considera- 
tion of  the  General  Assembly.  The  reason  given  was 
that  essentially  the  same  questions  would  be  up  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Albert  Barnes,  which  was  before  the  Assem- 
bly. The  real  fact,  however,  is  stated  to  have  been,  that 
on  the  boat  on  the  Ohio  River,  while  Dr.  Wilson,  the 
prosecutor,  was  on  his  way  to  the  General  Assembly, 
some  thief  stole  his  baggage  (coat,  money  and  papers) 
and  left  him  unable,  for  want  of  the  papers,  to  prosecute 
the  case. 

The  most  notable  case  of  any  was  that  of  Rev. 
Albert  Barnes.  Mr.  Barnes  came  to  Philadelphia  in 
the  face  of  a  theological  storm.  He  was  first  settled 
in  Morristown,  N.  J.,  in  1825.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  Hamilton  College  and  of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary.  In  1830  he  was  called  to  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Philadelphia  as  a  colleague  of  the 
Rev.  J.  P.  Wilson.  When  the  church  applied  to  Pres- 
bytery for  leave  to  prosecute  their  call  for  Mr.  Barnes, 
objection  was  raised  because  of  a  sermon  recently  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Barnes  on  "  The  Way  of  Salvation." 
The  objection  was  repeated  when  he  presented  his 
dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.     After  much  agitation 


VIGOROUS   GROWTH   AND    DIVISION.  1 87 

upon   the  subject,  formal   charges  were  tabled  against 
him    by  Dr.    George    Junkin,    President    of    Lafayette 
College.      These  charges  were   raised  specially  on   Mr. 
Barnes  "  Notes  on  Romans."     The  decision  of  the  Pres- 
bytery   cleared     Mr.     Barnes,    by    declaring     that     the 
charges    were    based    on    inferences     not    legitimately 
drawn  from  the  language  used.      Dr.  Junkin  appealed 
the    case  to  the   Synod.      The  Synod   condemned   Mr. 
Barnes  and  suspended  him  from   the  functions  of  the 
ministry.       The   case  was   carried   to   the  General  As- 
sembly of  1836,  at  Pittsburgh.      By  that  Assembly  Mr. 
Barnes's  appeal  was  sustained  by  a  vote  of  134  to  96; 
and  by  a  still  more  decisive  vote  of  145  to  78  the  action 
of  the  Synod,  suspending  him  from  the  Gospel  ministry, 
was  reversed.      Mr.  Barnes's  own  behavior  and  bearing 
in  all  that  trying  period  strengthened  the  confidence  of 
his  friends,   and  secured  the   profound   respect   of  his 
adversaries.       He  afterward    continued   pastor  of   the 
First  Church  in  Philadelphia  until  increasing  infirmities 
compelled  him  to  cease  the  active  duties  of  a  minister. 
His  people  in   1868  consented  to   his    retiring  to   the 
position    of    "pastor  emeritus,"    and   called   Dr.    Her- 
rick  Johnson   as  regular  pastor.      Mr.  Barnes  died  in 
December,  1870.      The   immediate  cause  of   his  death 
was  a  long  walk  to  visit  an   afflicted  family.      He  had 
but  seated  himself  when,  falling  back  on   his  chair,  he 
expired   without   a   struggle.      He  and   Dr.  Elliot,  the 
Moderator  at  the   time  of   the    disruption,    both   lived 
through  the  years  of  the  division  and  saw  the  reunion. 
Both  rejoiced  to  see  the  two  bodies  once  more  united, 
and  abundant  affection  went  out  toward  both  from  all 
the  ministry  and  membership  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OLD    SCHOOL    BRANCH. 

I^HE  question  of  denominational  Boards  was  the 
.  pivot  of  the  division  in  1837.  The  Old  School 
Branch  advocated  separate  church  organizations  for 
the  control  of  missionary  enterprises,  At  once,  there- 
fore, after  the  division,  the  Old  School  General  As- 
sembly proceeded  to  organize  its  own  church  Boards. 
The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  had,  in  1831,  organized  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  All  the  mem- 
bers of  this  society  belonged  to  the  Old  School  party, 
and  therefore  the  General  Assembly  of  1837  adopted 
a  constitution  for  and  appointed  members  of  a  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  and  in  1838  accepted  the  West- 
ern Foreign  Missionary  Society,  which  offered  to  sur- 
render its  entire  work  to  the  General  Assembly.  This 
same  year  (1838)  the  General  Assembly  organized  the 
Board  of  Publication.  The  previously  organized 
Boards  of  Home  Missions  and  Education  remained 
with  the  Old  School  Branch.  In  1844  a  constitution 
was  adopted  and  members  appointed  for  the  Board  of 
Church  Erection.  This  is  believed  to  be  the  first 
Board  separately  organized  by  any  denomination  for 
the  aid  of  weaker  churches  in  their  difficult  task  of  se- 
curing houses  of  worship.  Eleven  years  later,  in  1855, 
the  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief  was  created  to  take 
special  and   particular  charge    of  this    form    of  work. 

188 


*-  ■;:■ 


trPJi 


DAVID    ELLIOTT,    D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


OLD   SCHOOL   BRANCH.  189 

From  the  origin  of  the  Church  contributions  had  been 
solicited,  and  appropriations  made,  for  the  maintenance 
of  aged  ministers,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
ministers. 

As  the  Old  School  Branch  had  always  insisted,  be- 
fore the  division,  that  the  ministers  and  people  would 
take  hold  of  any  form  of  evangelical  work  more 
heartily,  and  contribute  more  liberally,  if  the  Boards 
were  managed  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  whole 
body  was  now  pledged  to  vindicate  this  oft-repeated 
assertion.  In  1800  to  1809  the  Cumberland  brethren 
charged  the  Church  with  being  dead  and  lifeless,  and 
seriously  wanting  in  Christian  energy  and  zeal.  When 
they  organized  themselves  into  an  independent  Pres- 
bytery, those  that  remained  in  the  Church  were  bound 
to  special  activity  in  order  to  defend  themselves  from 
the  charge.  Now  the  Old  School  party  were  com- 
pelled to  make  good  their  claim  in  behalf  of  Church 
Boards,  by  a  special  liberality  and  faithfulness  in  the 
spread  of  the  gospel.  The  reports  of  these  Boards, 
made  year  by  year,  showed  very  satisfactory  progress 
in  every  form  of  church  work.  Exact  statistics  of  the 
distinct  branches  could  not  be  had  at  the  time  of  the 
division.  Some  years  were  required  to  enable  each 
congregation,  Presbytery  and  Synod  to  finally  de- 
termine with  which  side  it  would  cast  its  lot.  A  safe 
estimate  of  the  Old  School  Branch  in  1839,  has  given, 
ministers,  161  5;  churches,  1673;  communicants,  126,583; 
benevolent  contributions,  134,439  dollars.  The  report 
of  the  same  branch  for  1869,  the  year  preceding  the 
reunion,  gives  ministers,  2381  ;  churches,  2740;  mem- 
bers, 258,963;  contributions,  1,346, 1  79  dollars.  In  the 
thirty   years,    therefore,  the   church    membership  had  a 


I9O  PRESBYTERIANS. 

little  more  than  doubled  and   the   contributions  had  in- 
creased about  tenfold. 

The  question  of  the  status  of  ruling  elders  has  been 
before  the  Church  in  many  different  forms.  In  the  Old 
School  Branch  two  important  questions  with  reference 
to  elders  were  at  different  times  points  of  earnest  discus- 
sion, and  were  at  last  settled,  though  without  very  com- 
plete unanimity.  These  questions  were  called  the 
"  Quorum  Question  "  and  the  "  Ordination  Question." 
The  "  Quorum  Question  "  was  whether  the  presence  of 
ruling  elders  was  necessary  in  order  to  constitute  a 
quorum  of  Presbytery  and  of  the  higher  judicatories. 
The  Form  of  Government  said  a  quorum  of  Presby- 
tery consisted  of  "  three  ministers  and  as  many  elders 
as  may  be  present."  Very  many  times  Presbyteries  con- 
vened and  no  elders  were  present.  Was  that  a  consti- 
tutional Presbytery  ?  After  many  years  of  discussion, 
and  numerous  complaints  and  appeals  and  protests  and 
answers,  especially  during  the  years  1842-44,  this  ques' 
tion  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  competency  of  Pres- 
byterial  meetings  to  transact  business  without  the 
presence  of  elders.  The  "  Ordination  Question  "  was 
whether,  in  the  ordination  of  ministers,  it  was  proper  for 
the  ruling  elders  "to  lay  on  hands"  with  the  other 
members  of  the  Presbytery.  In  the  ordination  of  min- 
isters, while  the  candidate  is  kneeling  in  the  presence  of 
the  Presbytery,  and  the  ordaining  prayer  is  being  of- 
fered, the  ministers  present  lay  their  hands  upon  the 
head  of  the  candidate.  Many  leading  elders  and  min- 
isters insisted  that  as  this  service  was  the  act  of  the 
Presbytery,  and  as  the  ruling  elders  were  members  of 
the  Presbytery,  they  had  an  equal  right  to  lay  on  their 
hands  with  the  ministers.     The  other  side  said  that  it  was 


OLD   SCHOOL   BRANCH.  I9I 

not  the  office  of  the  ruling  elders  officially  to  instruct 
the  Church  of  God  in  doctrine  and  in  duty.  This  ordi- 
nation ceremony  was  held  to  be  an  official  setting  apart 
of  the  candidate  to  this  work  of  authorized  religious 
teaching.  As  the  ruling  elders  did  not  participate  in 
this  office  of  teaching,  this  party  held  that  it  was  im- 
proper for  elders  to  take  part  in  the  ordination  service. 
While  an  elder  could  vote  in  the  determinations  of  the 
Presbytery  on  the  sufficiency  of  the  candidate's  trials 
for  ordination,  and  cast  his  vote  on  the  question  of  pro- 
ceeding to  ordain,  yet  the  service  of  ordination  be- 
longed to  the  ministerial  members  of  Presbytery  alone. 
At  various  times  there  have  been  deliverances  on  this 
subject,  but  always  with  minorities  and  protests  and 
dissents.  The  general  drift  of  the  opinion  of  the  ma- 
jorities has  been  against  the  right  of  the  elders  to  "  lay 
on  hands"  in  the  ordination  of  ministers.  The  final 
outcome,  rather  by  general  consent  than  by  rigid  decree, 
has  been  against  the  elders  and  in  favor  of  the  minis- 
ters  on  both  these  matters. 

In  1845  trie  slavery  question  was  once  more  before 
the  Old  School  General  Assembly,  and  a  paper  was 
adopted  upon  the  subject.  The  anti-slavery  part  of  the 
Church  strongly  denounced  this  paper  as  being  a  pro- 
slavery  document.  Instead  of  allaying  the  agitation, 
its  adoption  seemed  rather  to  foment  it.  It  may  pos- 
sibly have  been  true  that  the  real  object  of  the  Church 
was  to  get  rid  of  the  question  and  leave  its  manage- 
ment, with  all  its  perplexities,  to  the  churches  and  Pres- 
byteries located  in  the  midst  of  slavery.  This  result 
was  at  least  attained  in  the  sense  of  keeping  the  Church 
together  until  the  conllict  of  war  made  further  unity 
impracticable. 


I92  PRESBYTERIANS. 

In  the  General  Assembly  of  1861  only  a  small  part 
of  the  Southern  territory  was  represented.  There 
were  but  thirteen  ministers  present  from  the  Seceding 
States,  and  of  these  seven  were  from  the  Synod  of  Mis- 
sissippi. A  resolution  was  introduced  by  the  venerable 
Dr.  Gardner  Spring,  indicating  very  clearly  the  adhe- 
sion of  the  Church  as  represented  in  the  Assembly  in 
loyalty  to  the  Federal  Government.  After  a  heated 
debate,  Dr.  Spring's  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote 
of  156  to  66.  A  protest  signed  by  58  members  was 
presented,  but  the  Church  was  divided. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  1861,  a  conference  of 
ministers  and  elders,  from  the  Presbyterian  Church 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Confederate  States,  assembled 
at  Atlanta,  Ga.  After  consultation  this  convention 
issued  a  call  for  a  General  Assembly  of  the  delegates 
of  all  the  Presbyteries  which  desired  to  unite  in  the 
movement  to  meet  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Augusta,  Ga.,  on  the  4th  day  of  the  following  De- 
cember. Drs.  Waddell  and  Gray,  with  Elder  Jones, 
were  appointed  a  committee  on  commissions  and  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  meeting.  At  that  meeting 
Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans,  was  Moderator. 
A  sketch  of  the  history  of  that  Church,  by  Dr.  M.  D. 
Hoge,  is  found  in  a  special  chapter  of  this  work.  (See 
p.  486.) 

Unless  the  Church  was  either  superhuman,  or  sanc- 
tified to  an  extraordinary  degree,  it  could  not  be  ex- 
pected that  it  should  pass  through  the  war  without  a 
great  deal  of  excited  feeling,  and  many  things  being 
don&  which  would  not  have  been  done  in  calmer  mo- 
ments. The  various  actions  of  the  General  Assemblies 
from  1 86 1  to  1866  gave  great  offense  to  persons,  partic- 


OLD    S(  II'  m  )|.    BR  VNCH.  Kj3 

ularly  in  the  border  States.  It  is  not  probable  that  a 
separation  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  Presby- 
teries during  the  war  could  have  been  prevented  by 
any  particular  course  on  either  side.  1  low  could  Chris- 
tians remain  united  in  the  Church,  while  large  numbers 
were  fiercely  fighting  on  either  side,  and  the  line  of 
war  stretched  clear  across  the  country  from  the  Atlantic 
Coast  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  ?  Many  times  regrets 
were  expressed  by  various  individuals  that  the  subject 
of  "the  state  of  the  country"  was  introduced  into  the 
Assembly  at  all  ;  but  when  the  discussion  had  been 
once  begun  and  feelings  once  aroused,  it  was  difficult 
to  do  anything  but  fairly  express  in  behalf  of  the  body 
the  private  views  of  the  mass  of  the  Church  members. 
These  various  actions  all  contained  appeals  to  the 
people  to  humble  themselves  before  God  and  confess 
their  sins  both  individual  and  national,  and  urged 
prayer  that  the  divine  anger  might  be  turned  away. 
When  the  war  terminated,  thanks  to  God  were  re- 
turned. Abraham  Lincoln  was  eulogized,  his  death 
deplored,  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  was  urged 
to  extend  its  work  through  the  South,  and  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  enter  the  wide  field  open  among  the 
freedmen. 

As  a  protest  against  the  discussion  of  these  political 
topics  in  the  midst  of  ecclesiastical  and  religious  work, 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  issued  a  "  Declaration  and 
Testimony,"  and  invited  the  individual  signatures  of 
those  who  concurred  in  it.  The  whole  number  of  sign- 
ers was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty.  It  was  prob- 
ably written  by  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  I).  I).,  and  its 
language  was  extremely  sharp.  It  initiated  the  in- 
auguration of  a  systematic   resistance;  to  the  acts  of   the: 


194  PRESBYTERIANS. 

General  Assembly.  In  the  General  Assembly  of  1866 
at  St.  Louis,  this  paper,  with  its  signers  and  the  Pres- 
byteries indorsing  it,  was  taken  up  by  resolution  for  de- 
cisive action.  Finally,  a  paper  offered  by  Rev.  P.  D. 
Gurky,  D.  D.,  of  Washington  City,  was  adopted  by  a 
vote  of  196  to  $7.  This  paper  condemned  the  "  Dec- 
laration and  Testimony  "  as  slanderous  and  rebellious. 
It  forbade  the  signers  to  sit  in  any  church  court  above 
a  church  Session,  and  declared  any  Presbytery  or  Synod 
which  admitted  them  to  seats  to  be  "  ipso  facto "  dis- 
solved. Those  who  in  such  cases  obeyed  the  authority 
of  the  Assembly  were  declared  to  be  the  true  Presby- 
tery or  Synod,  and  were  instructed  to  take  charge  of 
all  books  and  papers  and  proceed  with  the  Church  work. 
As  the  result  of  all  this  the  Synods  of  Kentucky  and 
Missouri,  with  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  them,  were 
divided,  and  the  Assembly  of  1867  declared  that  the 
portion  of  these  several  judicatories  which  obeyed  the 
orders  of  1866  had  the  "true  succession."  The  civil 
side  of  the  controversies  at  last  reached  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  It  came  up  in  the  Court 
as  "  The  Walnut  Street  Church  Case,"  from  Louisville, 
Ky.  The  decision  of  the  Court  was  rendered  in  De- 
cember, 1871,  and  is  published  in  full  in  the  Minutes 
of  the  Assembly  of  1873,  p.  480,  and  in  Moore's  "  Di- 
gest," editions  of  1873  and  1886;  in  each  edition  on 
p.  251.  The  Chief  Justice  did  not  sit  in  the  case. 
Two  judges  dissented  on  the  matter  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Court.  The  same  matter,  essentially,  was  pend- 
ing in  the  State  court  of  Kentucky.  It  was  a  cause 
where  the  State  courts  and  the  United  States  courts 
had  concurrent  jurisdiction.  Judges  Clifford  and  Davis 
held  that,  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  State  court,  the 


196  PRESBYTERIANS. 

United  States  courts  should  have  left  it  there.  They 
expressed  no  opinion  on  the  law  touching  the  merits  of 
the  case. 

The  question  of  the  wisdom  of  leaving  judicial  cases 
to  be  decided  by  such  changeable  bodies  as  Synods  and 
Assemblies  has  long  been  a  mooted  one.  In  1849  a 
committee  was  appointed  on  the  subject,  and  it  worked 
out  an  elaborate  plan  for  a  Permanent  Judicial  Commis- 
sion. Presbyteries,  Synods  and  General  Assemblies 
are  very  changeable  bodies,  because  the  elders  are 
usually  appointed  to  attend  but  a  single  meeting. 
Even  the  ministers,  however  able  and  scholarly  they 
may  be  in  general,  are  not  specially  trained  and  habit- 
uated to  the  work  of  analyzing  testimony  and  excluding 
irrelevant  matter.  With  a  view,  therefore,  to  securing 
picked  men  to  decide  these  intricate  cases,  it  was  pro- 
posed that  there  should  be  in  each  Synod  and  for  the 
General  Assembly  a  commission  of  appeals,  composed 
of  four  ministers  and  four  elders,  elected  two  each 
year.  The  plan,  however,  was  almost  unanimously  re- 
jected. The  discussion  developed  widespread  feeling, 
first,  that  the  time  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
subordinate  judicatories  should  not  be  occupied  with 
many  judicial  cases  to  the  exclusion  of  or  interference 
with  church  mission  work ;  and  second,  that  some 
method  should  be  devised  for  a  more  careful  consider- 
ation of  each  case  by  selecting  persons  qualified  to  de- 
cide its  vital  points  on  their  real  merits. 

Many  of  these  questions,  which  were  before  the  sep- 
arate branches  of  the  Church  during  the  division,  have 
been  settled,  since  the  reunion,  on  methods  which  the 
experience  of  the  separate  branches  seemed  to  indicate 
as  essential.     At  present   judicial  trials  are  almost  im- 


OLD   SCHOOL   BRANCH.  197 

possible1  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  are  rarely  entered 
on  or  tried  in  the  Synods.  No  permanent  judicial  com- 
mission has  been  established,  as  was  proposed  in  the 
Old  School  Church,  but  a  plan  of  special  judicial  com- 
missions has  been  adopted,  and  each  case  is  referred 
for  trial  to  its  own  commission.  This  dissatisfaction 
with  the  modes  of  procedure  in  judicial  matters  caused 
the  agitation  of  the  subject  of  a  complete  readjustment 
of  the  Book  of  Discipline.  Some  of  the  ablest  and 
most  influential  men  were  engaged  in  the  process  of  an 
entire  recasting  of  the  book.  It  was  difficult,  however 
to  get  the  General  Assembly  to  adopt  a  new  book 
without  a  prolonged  consideration  and  a  particular  vote 
on  each  section.  Finally,  in  1S64,  at  Newark,  the  en- 
tire project  was  abandoned.  One  reason  for  this  aban- 
donment was,  undoubtedly,  that  tin;  growing  prospect 
of  an  early  reunion  made  it  undesirable  that  a  new  book 
should  be  adopted  until  after  the  reunion  was  accom- 
plished. Such  a  new  book  has  since  been  prepared, 
and  its  adoption  by  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
Presbyteries  was  declared  in  1884. 

A  strong  impulse  toward  mission  work  came  to  the 
Old  School  Church,  sometimes  through  distressing 
afflictions,  and,  at  other  times,  through  specially  favor- 
ing blessings.  The  whole  Church  was  shocked,  in 
1857,  by  the  martyrdom  of  eight  of  their  adult  mission- 
aries, with  two  of  their  children,  in  India.  That  was 
the  year  of  the  Sepoy  Rebellion,  and  Messrs.  Freeman, 
Campbell,  Johnson  and  McMullan,  and  their  wives, 
with  two  of  Mr.  Campbell's  children,  Willie  and  Fannie, 
were  captured  by  the  mutineers.  Money  was  freely 
offered  for  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  but  the  reply 
was,  "  It    is   blood  we   want,  net    money  "      The   intelli- 


I98  PRESBYTERIANS. 

gence  of  the  complicated  horrors  of  that  rebellion  sent 
a  thrill  of  anguish  through  the  hearts  of  God's  people 
in  this  and  other  Christian  lands.  Days  of  special 
prayer  were  widely  observed,  and  special  supplications 
for  India  were  the  spontaneous  utterance  of  the  whole 
Church.  That  winter  the  Old  School  Church,  and  the 
churches  of  the  various  denominations,  were  most  gra- 
ciously and  signally  revived  and  increased.  In  view  of 
the  Sepoy  Rebellion,  Rev.  J.  H.  Morrison,  of  India, 
suggested  to  his  brethren  of  the  Lodiana  mission  that 
they  should  ask  the  Church  of  God  throughout  the 
world  to  set  apart  the  first  full  week  of  January,  each 
year,  as  a  "week  of  prayer"  for  missions.  This  was 
first  observed  in  January,  i860.  The  Fulton  Street 
daily  prayer  meeting  in  New  York,  which  was  part  of 
the  work  of  the  revival  of  1857,  has  furnished  the  model 
for  the  services  of  this  "week  of  prayer."  The  Evan- 
gelical Alliance  heartily  indorsed  the  suggestion,  and 
the  first  week  of  January,  though,  in  many  climates,  an 
exceedingly  unpropitious  season  of  the  year,  has  ever 
since  been  observed  as  a  "week  of  prayer  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world." 

The  Old  School  Church  was  in  all  its  history  charac- 
terized by  intense  denominational  life  and  enthusiasm. 
It  pushed  its  own  enterprises,  its  boards,  its  colleges, 
its  theological  seminaries.  For  a  time  there  was  a 
large  portion  of  the  Church  strongly  in  favor  of  a 
strictly  denominational  newspaper.  Many  projects  were 
suggested  to  this  end,  but  none  of  them  secured  the 
cordial  assent  of  all  the  Church.  At  one  time  it  seemed 
likely  that  a  Presbyterian  Commentary  on  the  whole 
Scriptures  would  be  published  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Assembly.      Able  committees  year  after  year  toiled  with 


OLD   SCHOOL   BRANCH.  IO0 

the  task  of  its  preparation.  Excellent  reports  on  the 
subject  were  submitted  to  the  Assemblies.  No  As- 
sembly, however,  would  so  implicitly  trust  any  committee 
as  to  vote  for  the  official  commentary  without  reading 
it  and  all  could  not  read  it  before  it  was  printed.  The 
project  was  at  last  abandoned.  The  much  easier  task 
of  providing  an  official  hymn  book  has  been  often  un- 
dertaken, but  has  never  been  a  great  success.  Presby- 
terian independency  asserts  itself  easily,  and  everybody 
has  his  own  taste.  As  the  result  hymn  books  abound, 
and  churches  and  pastors  sometimes  please  and  some- 
times displease  themselves. 

Undoubtedly,  the  whole  history  was  one  of  great  doc- 
trinal unity.  The  strict  theory  of  Confessional  sub- 
scription prevailed,  and  ministers  passing  from  one 
Presbytery  to  another  were  quite  faithfully  examined  as 
to  their  soundness.  Those  who  were  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  general  type  of  Calvinism  found  in  the  Church 
sought  more  agreeable  companions.  One  thing  that 
kept  the  Church  from  falling  into  the  dead  orthodoxy 
with  which  it  was  often  charged  was  the  energy  with 
which  it  pushed  both  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missions. 
It  grew  in  the  graces  of  giving  and  sacrificing.  Doubts 
about  total  depravity  and  Divine  Sovereignty  may  pre- 
vail among  nice  people  who  are  busy  looking  at  each 
other,  but  those  who  have  grace  to  go  and  stay  working 
among  city  slums,  and  naked  heathen,  generally  have  an 
intense  sense  of  the  need  in  man  for  God's  regenerating 
power  and  for  the  daily  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Sometimes,  in  their  despair,  these  last  hope  only  for 
success  in  one  overwhelming  final  catastrophe. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    NEW    SCHOOL    BRANCH. 

THE  only  special  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  New 
School  Branch  that  has  been  published  is  that  pre- 
pared by  Dr.  J.  F.  Stearns  as  part  of  the  Reunion 
Memorial  volume.  Most  of  the  facts  stated  in  this 
chapter  are  condensed  from  that  document.  For  years 
before  the  division  two  parties  had  been  obviously 
crystallizing  in  the  Church.  In  the  General  Assembly 
these  parties  exhibited  themselves  in  various  ways,  such 
as  the  election  of  officers,  or  the  adoption  of  resolu- 
tions. During  the  years  more  immediately  preceding 
the  famous  year  of  1837,  the  New  School  party  had 
been  most  frequently  in  the  majority. 

The  Old  School  party  charged  the  New  School  men 
with  being  unsound  in  doctrine.  The  historical  out- 
come, however,  vindicated  the  many  symptoms  mani- 
fest at  that  time  that  this  allegation  was  not  justified. 
The  New  School  Church  was  a  separate  body  for 
thirty-two  years.  If  there  had  been  any  disposition  to 
change  the  Confession  of  Faith,  or  in  any  important 
point  modify  the  Form  of  Government,  the  way  was 
wide  open.  They  were  a  body  by  themselves  and  could 
have  done  it  without  hindrance,  if  they  had  so  desired. 
No  proposition  for  an  amendment  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith  was  made  at  any  time.  The  Form  of  Govern- 
ment was  modified  only  with  reference  to  the  meetings 
of  the  General  Assembly,  so  as  to  make  them  triennial 


HENRY   BOYNTON    SMITH,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL  BRANCH.  201 

instead  of  annual.  Shortly  after  the  Assembly  of  1837 
which  passed  the  Exscinding  Acts,  a  convention  assem- 
bled at  Auburn,  N.  Y.  This  convention  was  largely 
attended  by  the  New  School  representative  men,  and 
among  other  things  issued  what  is  known  historically 
as  the  "Auburn  Declaration."  The  Calvinism  of  that 
document  has  not  been  seriously  challenged  by  those 
who  are  familiar  with  it.  Indeed,  it  has  been  indorsed  by 
those  who  are  most  strenuous  in  their  opposition  to  the 
supposed  heterodox  views  of  the  New  School  Church. 
Even  in  the  discussions  about  reunion,  those  who  op- 
posed reunion  on  the  ground  of  the  doubts  of  the  doc- 
trinal soundness  of  the  New  School  men,  did  not 
hesitate  to  indorse  the  Auburn  Declaration.  The 
theory  that  the  division  was  due  to  doctrinal  differ- 
ences cannot  be  successfully  maintained  further  than 
that  various  men,  on  the  different  sides,  used  different 
words  and  expressions  and  illustrations  in  stating 
the  same  doctrine.  When  men  are  really  unsound 
in  doctrine  a  judicial  trial  ordinarily  tends  to  send 
them  further  and  further  away  from  the  Calvinistic 
system.  No  such  result  occurred  in  the  case  of  any  of 
those  who  were  judicially  tried  by  their  several  Presby- 
teries about  this  time. 

The  New  School  Assembly  was  greatly  hampered  at 
the  outset  by  two  or  three  things.  The  division  was 
not  expected  by  the  New  School  party,  and  their  leaders 
had  no  well-conceived  plan  of  action  in  case  it  came. 
The  Church  machinery,  such  as  boards,  officers,  etc., 
and  the  apparent  unity  of  the  Church  life,  were  left  to 
the  Old  School  party.  The  New  School  men  had  only 
Auburn,  Lane  and  Union  among  the  seminaries. 
Union  was  quite  young,  and    neither  Auburn  nor  Lane 


202  PRESBYTERIANS. 

rich.  Many  of  their  leaders  had  only  been  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  as  the  result  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  and 
while  laboring  in  Presbyterian  Churches  had  a  pretty 
decided  preference  for  Congregational  ways.  Many 
of  these  went  back  to  membership  in  Congregational 
Associations,  and  accepted  calls  to  Congregational 
Churches.  The  New  School  Church  was  assailed  on 
both  sides.  Congregational  Associations  and  news- 
papers urged  their  ministers  and  people  to  come  back 
to  the  liberty  and  freedom  of  Independency.  On  the 
other  side  a  policy  of  absorption  was  presented,  and 
the  Old  School  Assembly,  in  a  spirit  of  thorough  kind- 
ness, passed  resolutions  inviting  ministers  and  churches 
who  preferred  thorough-going  Presbyterian  methods  to 
unite  with  them.  It  required  some  time  for  the  New 
School  Branch,  as  a  denomination,  to  cret  a  clear  con- 
ception  of  its  mission  among  the  various  denominations, 
and  a  reason  satisfactory  to  its  own  ministers  and  mem- 
bers for  its  independent  existence  as  a  denomination. 
Instead  of  being  remarkable  that  it  did  not  at  first  rap- 
idly flourish,  it  is  more  remarkable  that  it  survived  at 
all. 

Both  General  Assemblies  for  several  years  retained 
theirroll  unchanged,  and  so  counted  ministers  and  mem- 
bers of  the  other  body  as  members  of  their  own  de- 
nomination. Frequent  overtures  were  made  for  the 
adjustment  of  the  differences,  or  for  an  amicable 
division  of  the  property  of  the  Church.  The  legal 
history  of  the  case  left  the  legitimacy  of  the  succes- 
sion almost  undecided.  The  New  School  Assembly 
elected  certain  persons  "  Trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly."  The  majority  of  the  Trustees  refused 
to     recognize     their    claim.       In    behalf    of    the    New 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL  BRANCH.  203 

School  side  their  men  brought  suit  in  the  civil 
court.  The  opinion  of  Judge  Rogers  and  the  jury 
before  which  the  case  was  first  tried  was  a  complete 
vindication  of  their  claim.  An  appeal  was  taken  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  opinion  was 
read  by  Judge  Gibson,  overruling  the  court  below  and 
granting  a  new  trial.  As  it  was  evident  that  this 
adverse  opinion  would  ultimately  prevail,  the  case  was 
withdrawn  by  the  New  School  claimants.  The  final 
fact  was  that  colleges,  seminaries,  newspapers  and 
property  generally  were  all  left  in  the;  hands  of  the 
party  that  had  control  of  them  at  the  time  of  the 
division. 

There  was  a  widespread  feeling  among  the  constit- 
uency of  the  New  School  party  that  they  had  been  at 
a  disadvantage  owing  to  the  frequent  meetings  of  the 
General  Assembly.  Some,  who  preferred  the  Con- 
gregational form  of  government,  did  not  believe  that 
a  supreme  court  controlling  the  whole  Church  (like 
the  General  Assembly)  was  necessary  or  even  useful. 
Among  them,  as  among  the  membership  and  minis- 
ters of  the  Presbyterian  Church  now,  there  was  a  large 
number  of  people  who  believed  that  the  expense  of  a 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  was  not  compensated 
by  any  good  which  it  accomplished.  Quite  soon  after 
the  organization  of  the  separate  Assembly,  therefore, 
a  movement  was  math-  for  reducing  these  expenses  by 
omitting  such  frequent  meetings  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. This  culminated  in  1840.  The  Form  of  Govern- 
ment was  amended  to  accomplish  this  change,  and  from 
1840  to  1846,  there  was  only  one  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  namely,  in  1843.  This  change  proved 
to  be  a  serious  disaster.        I  he  denomination  lacked  the 


204  PRESBYTERIANS. 

unity  and  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  born  by  gathering 
together  its  people.  Something  was  needed  to  develop 
a  self-respecting  and  aggressive  spirit  among  them- 
selves. The  denomination  was  well  supplied  with 
young,  enthusiastic  and  energetic  men,  and  fairly  well 
supplied  with  good  leaders.  With  triennial  meetings 
of  the  General  Assembly,  however,  the  influence  of 
this  leadership  was  scarcely  able  to  be  made  effective. 
It  took  a  very  few  years  to  show  all  parties  that  the 
change  from  annual  to  triennial  Assemblies  was  not  a 
wise  one  ;  and  after  1846  the  body  returned  to  the 
method  of  frequent  meetings  by  having  an  adjourned 
meeting  in  1847  and  then  affirming,  in  1849,  tne  change 
back  to  annual  meetings. 

The  New  School  party,  before  the  division  in  1837, 
had  been  strongly  in  favor  of  "voluntary  societies." 
After  the  division,  therefore,  they  sought  to  do  their 
foreign  mission  work  through  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  their  domestic 
mission  work  through  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society.  Their  young  ministers  were  enthusiastic  for 
the  work  of  the  new  and  growing  sections  of  the  coun- 
try. Into  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Lake  regions, 
and  specially  into  their  large  cities,  there  was  pouring  a 
large  population  of  Congregationalists  from  New  Eng- 
land and  Presbyterians  from  the  Atlantic  Coast.  The 
"Plan  of  Union"  adopted  in  1801  enabled  these  Con- 
gregationalists and  Presbyterians  to  unite  their  forces  in 
this  mission  field  for  the  building  of  churches  and 
the  support  of  pastors,  but  it  contained  no  satisfac- 
tory method  of  determining  to  which  body  these  new 
churches  with  their  pastors  should  belong.  It  specially 
had  no  plan  for  an   equitable  division   of  the   fruits  of 


206  TRESBYTERIANS. 

mission  work  and  contributions.  While  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society  was  managed  and  sup- 
ported with  equal  fidelity  by  Presbyterians  and  Congre- 
gationalists,  the  popular  understanding  was  that  it  was 
a  Congregational  missionary  society,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  funds  contributed  in  New  England.  Weak 
churches  were  justly  grateful  to  those  that  helped  them 
to  support  their  pastor.  To  a  very  large  extent,  there- 
fore, the  work  of  that  Home  Missionary  Society  accrued 
to  the  credit  of   New  England  Conpregationalists. 

The  secretaries  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  were 
believed  to  have  strong  Congregational  sympathies.  A 
powerful  influence  was  exerted  by  the  appointment  of 
Conofregfationalists  as  agents  for  the  new  States  and 
Territories.  These  agents  discouraged  the  organization 
of  Presbyterian  churches  and  encouraged  the  organi- 
zation of  Independent  churches.  Some  churches  were 
revolutionized. 

The  contributions  of  the  New  School  Church  were 
lost  sight  of  as  evidences  of  the  missionary  benevo- 
olence  of  the  denomination,  when  thus  mingled  with 
the  gifts  of  the  larger  body.  When  Old  and  New 
School  separated,  the  Old  School  Branch,  by  keeping 
control  of  the  mission  societies  had  at  once  a  channel 
through  which  the  large  churches  could  aid  the  weak 
ones  in  the  West,  and  through  which  the  weak  ones 
West  could  make  their  plea  to  their  stronger  Eastern 
friends.  It  was  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the 
New  School  Church  that  it  had  to  do  its  mission  work 
through  an  agency  recognized  by  the  public  as  controlled 
by  another  denomination.  This  crippled  their  efforts  in 
the  West,  because  ministers  and  churches  could  not 
look  directly  to  their  own  friends  for  support  and  assist- 


THE    NEW    SCHOOL    BRANCH.  ZO"J 

ance.       The    course   of    the    Home   Missionary   Society 
itself  seriously  aggravated  this  difficulty. 

The  Society  was  disposed  to  be  guided  in  its  appro- 
priations by  the  recommendations  of  its  own  agents 
traveling  through  the  West,  rather  than  by  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  New  School  Presbyteries.  The 
Western  Presbyteries  grew  restless  under  this  apparent 
disparagement  of  their  judgment.  The  home  office 
sought  to  enforce  the  right  to  manage  these  mission- 
ary affairs  by  refusing  appropriations  within  the  bounds 
of  Presbyteries  which  did  not  make:  that  home  office 
the  sole  channel  through  which  the  missionary  contribu- 
tions were  sent  to  missionary  fields.  Some  of  the  Pres- 
byteries were  disposed  to  raise  funds  within  their  own 
bounds,  and  in  their  own  name  solicit  assistance  from 
outside  of  their  own  bounds  as  well  as  administer  the 
money  thus  collected  by  their  own  committees  on  the 
field.  This  course  was  objected  to  by  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  as  "  unfaithfulness  to  the  general  pol- 
icy." Consent  was  given  that  such  a  course  might  be 
adopted  by  Congregational  churches  in  Associations 
which  did  as  they  pleased,  because  their  churches  were 
independent  of  each  other.  But  it  was  insisted  that  as 
Presbyteries  controlled  ministers  and  churches  within 
a  given  geographical  boundary,  this  control  must  be 
exercised  in  favor  of  the  Society.  This  wrought  great 
discontent  throughout  the  West.  In  some  places  also 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  aided  Congre- 
gational churches  where  there  was  already  a  Presby- 
terian church,  but  refused  to  do  the  same  thing  for 
Presbyterian  churches  in  places  where  there  was  a 
Congregational  church,  on  the  ground  that  this  was 
contrary  to  the  rules. 


208  PRESBYTERIANS. 

In  the  General  Assemblies  various  overtures  from 
different  Presbyteries  upon  the  subject  increased  the 
agitation.  Weak  churches  were  dissatisfied  by  being 
neglected,  and  the  strong  churches  were  dissatisfied 
because  they  had  difficulty  in  assisting  their  weaker 
brethren.  The  Church  was  handicapped  in  the  laudable 
competition  for  Western  enlargement.  Wealthy  New 
England  Congregationalists  could  directly  aid  their 
people  in  the  West  through  what  was  well  understood 
to  be  a  Congregational  Society.  Wealthy  Old  School 
churches  East  could  directly  aid  their  weaker  churches 
in  the  West  through  their  Board  of  Domestic  Missions. 
More  and  more  it  became  obvious  that  either  the  New 
School  body  must  have  an  adequate  substitute  for  a 
home  missionary  association  of  its  own,  or  its  relation 
to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  must  be  so 
reorganized  that  the  contributions  and  the  influence  of 
the  body  should  be  under  the  direction  of  the  denom- 
ination East  and  West.  Western  Synods  grew  urgent 
for  more  men  and  more  means  for  the  work  in  their 
bounds.  The  missionary  spirit  in  the  East  appreciated 
and  cordially  responded  to  the  call. 

The  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1846,  at 
Philadelphia,  assembled  in  the  midst  of  two  very  di- 
verse controversies  outside  of  the  Church.  This  mis- 
sionary question  was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the 
Western  members,  but  the  slavery  question  was  upper- 
most in  the  minds  of  the  Church  in  the  East.  The 
policy  of  the  Assembly  was  to  give  ample  time  and  op- 
portunity for  the  discussion  of  that  question.  "  No 
denomination  of  Christians  in  the  land  devoted  a  larger 
portion  of  the  time  and  strength  of  its  higher  court  to 
the  discussion  of  this  subject  of  slavery  than   the   New 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL  BRANCH.  209 

School  Presbyterians.  Nearly  the  whole  time  of  the 
Assembly  of  1846  was  consumed  with  it.  To  give 
every  member  North  and  South,  conservative  and  rad- 
ical, a  full  and  equal  opportunity,  the  roll  was  called  al- 
ternating between  the  top  and  bottom."  At  the  As- 
sembly resolutions  condemning  the  actual  system  as 
opposed  to  the  principles  of  the  law  of  God,  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Gospel  and  the  best  interests  of  humanity 
were  adopted  by  a  vote  of  ninety-two  to  twenty-nine. 
The  Assembly  of  1849  recites  preceding  actions,  and 
declares  in  favor  of  the  same  position.  The  Assembly 
of  1850,  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  spent  almost  a  week,  and 
then  by  a  vote  of  eighty-seven  to  sixteen  adopted 
what  is  known  as  the  "Detroit  Resolution."  This 
looked  toward  the  discipline  of  slaveholders,  unless  pecu- 
liar circumstances  relieved  the  particular  case.  The 
Assembly  of  1853  reaffirmed  the  "  Detroit  Resolution," 
and  asked  the  Presbyteries  in  the  slaveholding  States 
to  lay  before  the  next  Assembly  distinct  statements  as 
to  how  far  the  "  Detroit  Resolution"  had  been  applied, 
and  what  effort  was  being  made  for  the  well-being  of 
the  enslaved  in  their  religious  needs  and  privileges.  In 
1856  the  debate  continued,  fomented  by  the  political 
agitation  of  that  year,  and  both  sides  were  more  de- 
cided than  before.  When  the  Assembly  of  1857  con- 
vened, the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  Mo.,  notified  the 
Assembly  that  a  number  of  its  ministers  and  elders  held 
slaves  from  principle,  and  believed  it  right  to  do  so  ; 
and  that  their  position  was  sustained  by  the  Presbytery. 
That  Assembly  declared  emphatically  "  that  such  doc- 
trines and  practices  cannot  permanently  be  tolerated 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church."  The  Southern  New 
School  Synods   immediately    withdrew    from    the    bod)' 


2IO  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  formed  themselves  into  the  United  Synod  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  This  was  the  only  great  conflict 
which,  after  debate,  resulted  in  serious  differences  dur- 
ing the  thirty-two  years  of  the  separate  existence  of 
the  New  School  Church. 

The  Western  members  were  not  satisfied  at  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1846  at  having  their  missionary  enter- 
prises crowded  out  by  the  discussion  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. In  order  more  thoroughly  to  consider  this  mission- 
ary business,  it  was  decided  to  hold  an  adjourned  meeting 
of  the  General  Assembly  the  next  year  in  Cincinnati. 
The  measure  was  without  precedent,  and  Chancellor 
Kent,  of  New  York,  was  asked  his  opinion  in  regard  to 
its  legality.  He  gave  the  weight  of  his  authority  strongly 
in  favor  of  the  Assembly's  right  to  do  so  if  circum- 
stances demanded  it.  Among  other  notable  leaders 
of  the  New  School  body,  to  the  Rev.  Thornton  A. 
Mills,  D.  D.,  was  providentially  given  the  honor  of  in- 
augurating most  important  movements  at  this  juncture. 
To  that  adjourned  meeting  he  presented  a  special 
overture.  This  overture  called  attention  to  four  things: 
first,  the  great  want  of  places  of  public  worship  ;  second, 
the  great  need  of  a  system  of  itinerancy  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  ;  third,  the  need  of 
measures  for  the  increase  of  the  ministry,  and,  fourth, 
for  some  special  provision  for  the  foreign  population, 
especially  the  Germans.  But  such  measures  could  not 
well  be  carried  out  if  the  Assembly  met  only  trien- 
nially,  and  its  action  was  essential  to  the  work.  Steps 
were,  therefore,  taken  to  resume  the  policy  of  annual 
Assemblies,  and  able  committees  were  appointed  to 
consider  these  vast  interests  of  the  Church.  By  ap- 
pointment Dr.  Mills  preached  on  Home  Missions  to  the 


THE    NKW    St  Hi  II  >i.    BRANCH.  21  I 

Assembly  of  1851.     His  sermon  on  the  text  "  Enlarge 

the  place  of  thy  tent,"  etc.,  Isaiah  54  :  2,  3,  made  a  pro- 
found impression,  and  the  Assembly  appointed  a  com- 
mittee, with  Dr.  Mills  as  chairman,  to  report  on  the  whole 
subject  to  the  Assembly  of  1852.  That  Assembly  of 
1852  met  in  Washington  City,  with  Dr.  William  Adams, 
of  New  York,  as  Moderator.  It  was  an  earnest,  hard- 
working General  Assembly,  and  its  results  are  a  part  of 
the  history  of  the  Church.  Dr.  Mills's  committee  re- 
ported three  recommendations  :  one  on  Education  for 
the  Ministry  ;  one  on  Home  Missions,  and  one  on 
Doctrinal  Tracts.  The  whole  policy  of  the  Church  was 
there  debated  exhaustively.  One  party,  led  by  many 
of  the  older  members  of  the  Assembly,  still  clung  to 
the  hope  of  the  possibility  of  finding  some  way  of  doing 
their  denominational  work  effectively  in  connection 
with  "voluntary  societies."  Another,  and  perhaps 
younger  party,  certainly  the  Western  party,  insisted 
upon  having  some  means  devised  by  which  the  denom- 
ination should  attend  to  its  own  business  in  its  own 
way.  Three  days  were  occupied  in  the  discussion. 
The  Western  men  made  their  speeches  very  short  and 
very  direct,  telling  mainly  their  own  experiences,  and 
the  facts  and  embarrassments  which  existed  under 
present  methods.  The  result  was  a  general  conviction 
that  something  must  be  done  quickly.  Finally,  a  not- 
able committee  of  twelve — seven  ministers  and  five 
elders — was  appointed  to  report  such  new  plans  of  oper- 
ation as  would  be  suitable  under  the  circumstances.  A 
Committee  of  Publication  was  recommended  by  them. 
A  Western  Education  Society  was  proposed,  and  an 
Assembly's  committee  was  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
American    Home    Missionary    Society,   and    il    possible 


212  PRESBYTERIANS. 

report  some  satisfactory  method  of  co-operation.  At 
this  meeting  two  steps  were  taken  of  the  very  first  im- 
portance. Each  Presbytery  and  Synod  was  directed 
to  appoint  a  Church  Extension  Committee  ;  and  each 
Presbytery  or  Synod  was  directed  to  secure,  if  possible, 
an  itinerant  missionary. 

The  members  of  that  Assembly  went  home  greatly 
gratified  at  the  progress  made.  The  Church  had  now 
a  consciousness  of  a  mission  among  the  Churches  of 
Christ,  and  had  resolved  to  hold  on  its  way,  and  look 
after  its  own  safety  and  prosperity  as  an  organized 
body.  The  concurrence  of  the  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety in  these  plans  was  confidently  expected.  It  had 
invited  ecclesiastical  bodies,  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
to  ^become  its  auxiliaries,  and  pledged  itself  not  to 
interfere,  in  the  slightest  degree,  with  denominational 
work.  But  the  object  of  the  Society  left  unprovided 
for  some  things  which  the  Assembly  thought  quite  in- 
dispensable to  the  prosperity  of  the  Church.  The 
Society  believed  it  could  not  modify  its  plans  to  include 
them,  and  agreed,  with  the  Assembly's  committee,  that 
such  objects  should  be  provided  for  directly  by  the 
Assembly.  Some  of  these  projects  were  met  by  tem- 
porary arrangements  with  a  few  individuals  ;  but  these 
arrangements  were  not  sufficiently  permanent  and  reli- 
able to  be  adopted  as  a  future  policy.  In  1 855,  therefore, 
the  General  Assembly  established  a  Church  Extension 
Committee.  This  step  was  denounced,  in  many  quar- 
ters in  the  Congregational  ranks,  as  an  unfair  and  un- 
friendly  attempt  to  gain  denominational  advantage. 
The  Home  Missionary  Society  took  up  the  contest,  and 
asserted  that  the  step  was  impairing  confidence  and 
diverting  funds  from   its   treasury.      It  was   next  to  im- 


'<  -• 


214  PRESBYTERIANS. 

possible  that  a  society  to  establish  churches  and  sup- 
port pastors  should  not  prefer  doing  this  in  such  ways 
as  would  increase  the  number  of  its  friends  and  secure 
the  extension  of  its  territory.  Its  appointment  of  mis- 
sionaries and  its  appropriations  of  aid,  therefore,  were 
liable  to  be  partial  to  its  own  friends,  and  very  certain 
to  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  others.  News- 
paper correspondents  on  both  sides  rather  aggravated 
the  difficulty.  The  General  Assembly  of  1857  ap- 
pointed a  commission  to  investigate  all  the  facts,  learn 
the  principles  and  modes  of  administration  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  to  furnish  a 
well-authenticated  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 
That  committee  did  not  report  until  the  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  at  Pittsburgh,  in  i860.  The  spirit  of  that 
Assembly  maybe  understood  when  it  is  stated  that  Dr. 
Thornton  A.  Mills  was  its  Moderator,  and  Dr.  Robert 
W.  Patterson  the  retiring  Moderator  and  chairman  of 
the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures.  The  body  had 
now  grown  so  lar^e  and  atjo-ressive  that  it  felt  com- 
petent  to  organize  and  work  its  own  system,  and,  there- 
fore, at  this  meeting,  it  appointed  a  committee  to  cor- 
respond with  all  the  Congregational  Associations,  and 
confer  with  them  with  reference  to  the  adjustment  of 
the  mutual  relations  of  the  society  and  itself,  and,  if  a 
separation  should  be  found  necessary,  to  agree  upon 
equitable  terms.  This  suggestion  was  declined  by  the 
Associations,  and  many  of  them  declared  their  belief 
that  no  good  could  be  expected  from  such  negotiations. 
The  next  year  the  Assembly  "assumed  the  responsibil- 
ity of  conducting  the  work  of  Home  Missions  within 
its  own  bounds,"  and  instituted  a  permanent  committee, 
to  be  known  as  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of   Home 


THE    NEW    SCHOOL   BRANCH.  215 

Missions.  By  this  act  the  Assembly  left  to  a  sister  de- 
nomination all  the  unexpended  funds  and  legacies  of 
Presbyterian  contributors.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
had  founded  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  had 
sustained  it  several  years  before  the  Congregational 
brethren  came  into  it,  and  their  present  step  was  only 
taken  in  accordance  with  the  obvious  indications  of 
Providence,  and  as  a  movement  essential  to  proper  care 
for  the  vigor  of  their  Church  throughout  the  whole 
country. 

Very  many  of  the  features  of  the  Home  Mission  pol- 
icy adopted  by  the  New  School  Church  have  been  dis- 
tinctly incorporated  into  the  work  of  the;  united  Church. 
The  name  "  Home  Missions"  was  exceedingly  striking 
and  apt.  Out  of  the  plan  of  itinerant  missionaries  to  ex- 
plore new  fields,  and  aid  vacant  churches  tosecure  pastors, 
has  grown  the  present  system  of  synodical  missionaries. 
The  whole  movement  for  separate  home  mission  work 
was  greatly  promoted  by  the  work  of  the  Church  Ex- 
tension Committee,  designed  to  aid  weaker  churches  in 
securing  houses  of  worship. 

In  different  places  West,  Home  Mission  Societies 
had  been  organized  to  collect  funds  and  loan  them  to 
aid  new  churches  in  building  houses  ot  worship.  Some; 
single  congregations,  like  the  Second  of  Cincinnati,  thus 
loaned  thousands  of  dollars.  The  same  project  was 
pushed  in  various  Presbyteries  and  Synods  under  the 
leadership  of  men  like  \^v.  Norton  of  Alton,  Dr.  Pat- 
terson of  Chicago,  and  Dr.  Bullard  of  St.  Louis. 
Considerable  sums  were  thus  raised  and  loaned  out  by 
the  Synods  of  Illinois,  Peoria,  Missouri.  Iowa  and 
man)'  others.  This  policy  so  commended  itself  to  the 
whole  Church  that  the  Assembly  of   [853  instituted  the 


2l6  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Church  Erection  Committee,  and  resolved  to  raise  by 
contributions  from  the  churches  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  This  was  to  constitute  a  per- 
manent fund,  the  interest  of  which  should  be  loaned  to 
the  churches  to  aid  in  building  houses  of  worship.  The 
canvass  for  that  sum  built  up  a  consciousness  of  denom- 
inational unity  which  was  of  the  utmost  value.  By  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1856  this  fund  had 
reached  an  amount  lacking  only  a  few  thousand  dol- 
lars for  its  completion,  and  on  a  resolution  to  take  sub- 
scription on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  the  $2900  was  at 
once  raised.  This  completed  the  total  sum  of  $100,000 
It  was  a  success  for  the  Church  ;  gratifying  for  the  time 
being,  but  especially  valuable  for  the  hope  it  inspired  in 
its  newer  churches  and  mission  fields. 

The  reunion  period  found  the  Church  with  a  purpose 
thoroughly  fixed  on  growing  into  a  Continental  Church 
It  was  not  at  any  time  disturbed  by  fierce  controversies 
or  angry  debates.  Prof.  E.  I).  Morris  of  Lane  Seminary, 
who  was  a  leader  in  its  work,  and  has  been  deservedly 
honored  since  by  the  reunited  Church,  says,  as  he  now 
looks  back  on  it,  "The  New  School  Church  was  zealous 
for  revivals  and  earnestly  sought  to  raise  up  a  sound 
and  consecrated  ministry.  On  all  moral  questions,  such 
as  Temperance,  the  Sabbath',  etc.,  it  was  at  the  front  and 
sometimes  extreme.  With  a  noble  company  of  leaders, 
the  growth  of  the  Church  was  healthful,  and  the  average 
of  Christian  character  high.  The  efforts  to  save  men 
were  earnest,  and  there  was  more  doctrinal  preaching, 
in  my   judgment,  than  is  the  style  in   the  present  day." 

Rev.  E.  E.  Hatfield,  1).  I).,  who  was  the  Stated 
Clerk  of  the  New  School  Assembly  for  the  last  twenty- 
three  years  before   the   reunion,  and   Stated   Clerk   for 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL  BRANCH.  2\J 

thirteen  years  after  the  union,  gives  this  as  his  estimate 
of  the  strength  and  growth  of  the  denomination  :  In 
1839  there  were  75  Presbyteries,  1093  ministers,  138 
licentiates  and  candidates,  1260  churches  and  106,736 
members.  No  reports  of  money  given  by  the  churches 
were  required  by  the  General  Assembly  until  1853. 
The  report  for  1869,  the  last  year  of  the  separate  exist- 
ence of  the  Church,  gives  24  Synods,  113  Presbyteries, 
1848  ministers,  419  licentiates  and  candidates,  1631 
churches  and  1  72,560  members.  The  contributions  for 
strictly  benevolent  purposes  were  $740,595,  and  includ- 
ing money  for  congregational  purposes  the  financial 
operations  of  the  Church  amounted  to  $3,620,533. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

REUNION    AND    CONSOLIDATION. 

BY  the  close  of  the  war  in  1865  it  had  become  a  well 
settled  conviction,  with  large  numbers  of  the  leaders 
of  both  branches  of  the  Church,  that  reunion  was  only 
a  question  of  time.  This  conviction  was  specially  defi- 
nite on  the  part  of  leading  laymen.  These  did  not 
believe  the  division  absolutely  called  for  originally,  and 
they  had  come  to  the  strong  determination  to  end  the 
separation  as  early  as  possible.  During  the  war,  every- 
body was  disposed,  theologically,  to  hold  still  and  see 
what  the  outcome  would  be.  Previous  to  the  war  the 
slaveholding  membership  of  the  New  School  Church 
was  comparatively  small.  The  slaveholding  section  of 
the  Old  School  branch  was  quite  large — very  able  and 
highly  influential.  If  the  Southern  Confederacy  should 
succeed  in  establishing  its  independence  as  a  nation, 
there  would  be  no  question  that  the  denominations 
within  its  territory  would  be  so  organized  as  to  be  self- 
governing  bodies.  If  the  Southern  Confederacy  should 
fail,  the  question  of  the  duty  of  the  denominations  could 
only  be  fairly  studied  in  view  of  the  resulting  situation. 
The  Christian  Commission  and  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission gave  all  philanthropic  people  in  the  North 
ample  opportunity  for  evangelistic  work  in  the  arm)-,  in 
securing  to  the  soldiers  at  the  front,  and  their  families 
at  home,  such  physical  and  spiritual  aid  as  the  circum- 
stances might  demand.      In    these;    philanthropic  move- 

218 


RFAINION   AND   CONSOLIDATION.  219 

ments  both  branches  of  Presbyterians  worked  together 
side  by  side.  Each  had  to  inquire  of  the  other  before 
lie  could  tell  his  denominational  connection.  This  co- 
operation seemed  sogood  that,  when  it  ended  with  the 
war,  nobody  could  see  any  reason  why  it  should  not 
continue  in  all  forms  of  missionary  work. 

The  reunion  movement  really  began  in  the  midst  of 
the  war.  The  Old  School  General  Assembly  of  1863 
met  at  Peoria,  111.,  and  of  that  Assembly  Dr.  |.  H. 
Morrison,  of  India,  was  the  Moderator.  It  was  a  mis- 
sionary Assembly,  and  largely  pervaded  with  the  spirit 
of  prayer.  Dr.  Morrison  was  elected  Moderator  in  tes- 
timony of  the  interest  in  Foreign  Missions.  The  Old 
School  Assembly  in  1862,  in  Columbus,  O.,  had  pro- 
posed an  annual  interchange  of  commissioners  between 
the  two  Assemblies.  This  resolution  coidd  not  reach 
the  New  School  Assembly  until  its  meeting  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1863.  That  Assembly  adopted  resolutions 
declaring  their  heartfelt  pleasure  in  accepting  the  prop- 
ositions, and  directed  that  this  action  should  be  tele- 
graphed to  the  Old  School  Assembly  at  Peoria.  A 
special  delegation  was  appointed  to  communicate  the 
response  of  the  OKI  School  Assembly  to  the  New- 
School  body.  These  delegates  were  instructed  to  pro- 
pose a  committee  of  nine  ministers  and  six  ruling  elders 
from  each  body  to  constitute  a  joint  committee  to  con- 
sider the  desirableness  and  practicability  of  reunion. 
This  was  cordially  agreed  to  by  the  other  Assembly, 
and  the  result  was  the  first  joint  committee  on  the;  sub- 
ject of  reunion.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  before 
these  committees  of  the  two  Assemblies  could  meet  as 
a  joint  committee,  both  the;  chairmen  had  been  disabled 
from  all  participation  in  tin;  conference.     Dr.  Brainard 


220  PRESBYTERIANS. 

was  suddenly  translated  to  the  General  Assembly 
above,  and  Dr.  Krebs  was  disabled  by  his  last  illness. 
Some  formalities  were  required  to  remove  all  embar- 
rassment from  the  minds  of  the  brethren  on  the  two 
committees.  But  soon  each  understood  the  other,  and 
a  report  was  agreed  upon  by  the  joint  committee  to  be 
presented  to  both  Assemblies  in  1867. 

On  almost  every  question  there  was  general  har- 
mony. The  pivotal  point  was  with  reference  to  the 
common  standards.  At  first  it  was  supposed  that  there 
must  be  some  agreement  upon  the  method  of  inter- 
pretation of  these  standards.  Neither  branch  had 
amended  or  changed  the  Westminster  standards  ;  but 
it  was  supposed  that  there  was  serious  difference  in 
their  interpretation.  So  this  first  reunion  report  de- 
clared that  "the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  continue  to 
be  sincerely  received  and  adopted  as  containing  the 
system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
its  fair  historical  sense  as  it  is  accepted  by  the  two 
bodies  in  opposition  to  Antinomianism  and  Fatalism  on 
the  one  hand,  and  to  Arminianism  and  Pelagianism  on 
the  other,  shall  be  regarded  as  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
received  and  adopted."  This  was  looked  on  by  many 
as  an  excellent  solution  of  the  supposed  doctrinal  differ- 
ences. It  was  soon  felt,  however,  that  there  would  be 
as  much  need  of  interpreting  the  basis  of  union  so 
adopted  as  there  would  be  in  interpreting  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith.  The  more  this  sentence  was  studied 
the  more  unsatisfactory  it  became.  It  was  finally 
agreed  to  by  a  considerable  majority  of  the  New  School 
Presbyteries,  as  they  held  that  to  be  the  method  in 
which  they  had  always  accepted  the  Confession  of 
Faith.     The  debate  upon  the  whole  subject  was   able 


REUNION    ANIi   CONSOLIDATION.  221 

and  very  discriminating,  and  accomplished  the  rapid 
education  of  the  ministers  of  either  branch  concerning 
the  views  held  by  the  ministers  of  the  other. 

A  good  deal  of  influence  in  the  progress  of  the  whole 
movement  had  been  exerted  through  voluntary  conven- 
tions of  the  friends  of  union.  The  General  Assembly 
of  1S64  of  the  Old  School  branch  met  at  Newark, 
N.  J.  Outside  of  the  members  of  the  Assembly  them- 
selves, there  was  a  large  attendance  of  prominent 
ministers  and  laymen  from  both  branches  of  the  Church. 
During  the  meeting  of  that  Assembly  an  informal  con- 
vention was  called  for  conference  upon  the  expediency 
and  feasibility  of  organic  reunion.  This  convention 
had  no  authority,  but  its  meetings  brought  together 
very  many  persons  from  both  branches  for  prayer  and 
exchange  of  views.  A  paper  was  prepared  and  pub- 
lished by  this  meeting,  and  was  signed  by  seventy 
ministers  and  fifty-three  elders.  That  paper  contained 
an  explicit  avowal  of  an  earnest  desire  to  secure 
complete  and  perfect  reunion  between  the  two  bodies. 
This  is  claimed  to  have  been  the  first  public  gathering 
that  declared  itself  undisguisedly  in  favor  of  reunion. 
Its  declaration  served  as  a  rallying  point  for  the  friends 
of  reunion  in  all  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Another  of  the  most  influential  meetings  in  favor  of 
reunion  was  the  "  Presbyterian  National  Union  Con- 
vention." This  assembled  in  Philadelphia  in  1807,  and 
was  presided  over  by  George  H.  Stuart,  the  noted 
president  of  the  Christian  Commission  during  the  war, 
and  a  leading  elder  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church.  Its  avowed  object  was  not  merely  the 
reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Presbyterian 
Churches,  but  the  union  of  all  branches  of   the  Presby- 


222  PRESBYTERIANS. 

terian  family  of  all  denominations.  The  particular  union 
which  was  most  prominent  in  the  minds  of  all  was, 
undoubtedly,  the  union  between  the  Old  and  New 
Schools  which  was  then  pending  in  the  joint  committee 
before  referred  to  ;  but  the  convention  really  looked 
to  a  much  larger  result.  Those  who  were  opposed  to 
the  reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School  bodies  had 
looked  upon  the  convention  with  very  earnest  disfavor. 
Not  a  few  had  come  to  the  convention  with  the  pro- 
claimed purpose  of  opposing  all  union.  It  is,  however, 
a  pretty  difficult  task  for  pious  men  to  meet  Christian 
brethren  and  pray  for  division.  That  convention 
closed  with  the  best  of  feeling,  and  the  members  scat- 
tered to  their  homes  with  a  conviction  that  the  special 
providence  of  God,  and  the  powerful  manifestation  of 
his  Spirit,  had  alone  prevented  acrimonious  debate  and 
possibly  division  in  the  convention  itself.  Many  who 
went  to  the  convention  avowed  antagonists  of  reunion 
came  away  earnestly  working  and  praying  for  it. 

About  this  time  there  grew  up  a  widespread  feeling 
that  church  unity  was  after  all  a  question  of  personal 
confidence.  When  the  two  branches  had  come  to 
believe  in  each  other,  there  was  not  much  need  of 
carefully  guarded  and  explicit  statements  about  fair 
historical  modes  of  interpretation.  It  would  be  an 
interesting  fact  of  history  (if  it  could  be  ascertained) 
where  the  phrase  originated  which  finally  became  so 
popular.  Somebody  must  first  have  said  that  he  was 
in  favor  of  reunion  "on  the  basis  of  the  Standards  pure 
and  simple."  That  expression  aptly  met  the  wishes  of 
those  who  were  willing  to  trust  each  other.  A  paper 
was  drawn  up  in  Pittsburgh  in  favor  of  this  as  the  basis 
of  reunion.      Anions  its  signers  was  Rev.  David  Elliot, 


KKI'NION    AND    (  '<  )NS(  )  1.1 1  >A  I'H  >N. 


223 


D.  D.,  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  at  the 
division  in  1X37.  The  first  part  of  the  paper  was 
written  by  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge,  Professor  of  Theology  in 
Allegheny.  The  influence  of  that  paper  upon  the  dis- 
cussion, toward  the  close  of  the  preliminary  negotiations, 
was  very  marked.  It  was  projected  into  the  public 
mind  when  the  whole  subject  of  reunion  was  in  quite 
a     tangled     condition.       Some     of     the     Presbyteries 


WILSON    COLLEGE   (FEMALE),    CHAMBERSRURG,    l'A. 

had  adopted  one  part  of  the  overtures  on  reunion 
and  rejected  other  parts.  Other  Presbyteries  still  had 
adopted  different  parts.  Others  had  adopted  the 
whole.  The  result  was  in  such  chaos  that  no  one 
could  very  well  determine  what  the  real  mind  of  the 
Church  was.  Informal  modifications  of  the  basis  <>| 
reunion  had  been  suggested  by  various  Presbyteries; 
and  the  Old  School  part  of  the  joint  committee  had 
been  discharged.  In  1868  Dr.  Musgrave  had  suggested 
to  the  Old  School  Assembly  that  the  basis  should 
consist  of  but  one  article,  and  this  should  be  the  "  doc- 
trinal one."  This  should  contain  only  the  Standards, 
leaving  all  other  matters  for  readjustment  after  the 
reunion   took  place.     This  suggestion  was  not  at   first 


224  PRESBYTERIANS. 

favorably  received,  but  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
just  before  the  General  Assembly  of  1869,  had  repeated 
that  proposition  to  the  General  Assembly.  It  was 
thus  in  the  mind  of  the  whole  Church  as  a  good  sug- 
gestion, to  be  carefully  considered.  It  looked  like 
coming  back  to  the  basis  of  mutual  confidence. 

By  this  time  it  was  obvious  that  the  only  question  was 
one  of  method,  and  not  one  of  fact  and  purpose.  "  Re- 
union was  in  the  air,"  and  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  in 
the  symptoms  and  signs  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The 
antagonists  to  reunion  "  with  every  basis  and  on  every 
basis "  were  comparatively  few.  It  could  hardly  be 
said  to  have  been  providential  that  both  Assemblies  of 
1869  convened  in  New  York  City.  It  was  more  the 
result  of  preconcerted  arrangement  on  the  part  of  the 
leaders  than  of  mere  inscrutable  Providence.  The  Old 
School  Assembly  of  that  year  was  the  largest  that  had 
ever  convened  in  the  entire  history  of  the  Church,  ex- 
cept on  three  occasions.  One  of  these  was  before  the 
disruption,  and  the  two  others  were  just  before  the 
separation  of  the  Southern  Church.  The  New  School 
Assembly  was  the  largest  of  that  body  that  had  ever 
assembled.  It  lacked  only  thirty-six  persons  of  being 
equal  in  number  to  the  Old  School  Assembly.  A  joint 
Assembly  would  have  numbered  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
five.  The  formal  meetings  of  the  two  Assemblies  were 
preceded  by  a  joint  prayer  meeting  of  the  members  and 
others  in  the  Brick  Church.  At  that  prayer  meeting 
it  was  understood  that  the  subject  of  reunion  was  so 
delicate  that  it  should  not  be  introduced.  But  those 
plans  of  prudence  were  all  in  vain.  It  is  not  so  easy  to 
shut  out  the  light  of  the  morning.  The  subject  of 
reunion  was  referred  to  in  the  first  prayer  offered,  and 


REUNION   AND  CONSOLIDATION.  225 

the  first  speaker  plainly  broached  the  matter.  Every 
exercise  tended  toward  the  reunion  sentiment.  It  was 
the  first  time  the  brethren  had  come  together  under 
such  circumstances,  and  the  precious  ointment  loaded 
the  air  with  its  fragrance.  The  whole  community  was 
in  full  sympathy  with  the  movement. 

It  was  suggested  that  the  brethren  of  the  New 
School  Church  were  not  as  enthusiastic  as  those  of  the 
Old  School  Church  ;  but  for  this  there  was  ample  ex- 
planation. In  all  the  propositions  made  by  the  joint 
committee  on  reunion,  the  New  School  Church  had 
cordially  accepted  the  report  of  the  joint  committee. 
The  opposition  had  come  almost  wholly  from  the  Old 
School  side.  Not  a  few  New  School  men  believed  that 
there  had  been  time  enough  occupied  in  fruitless  over- 
tures, and  their  desire  was  for  a  prompt  and  final  de- 
cision. To  many,  time  often  seems  wasted  when  it  is 
occupied  by  these  preliminaries.  The  route  of  reunion 
had  been  a  very  circuitous  one,  considering  that  the 
apparent  starting-place  was  such  a  short  distance  from 
the  final  outcome  now  at  hand.  Almost  every  con- 
ceivable basis  of  reunion  had  been  proposed,  debated 
in  the  newspapers,  or  voted  on  in  some  Assembly  or 
Presbytery.  The  universal  feeling  now  was  that  no 
new  basis  was  needed.  Both  branches  of  the  Church  had 
been  standing  on  the  same  platform  at  the  same  eleva- 
tion ;  and  all  that  was  needed  was  simply  that  the  two 
platforms  should  be  joined  and  the  floor  would  be 
smooth  enough  even  for  old  people.  The  proposition 
that  the  two  Assemblies  should  then  and  there  unite, 
"  on  the  Standards  pure  and  simple,"  was  seriously  con- 
sidered. If  it  had  been  proposed  and  advocated  by  a 
considerable  number  of  the  leaders  in   each  Assembly, 


226  PRESBYTERIANS. 

it  would  almost  undoubtedly  have  been  carried.  It  was 
better  that  more  patient  counsels  prevailed,  and  that 
when  the  Assemblies  were  formally  organized  the 
motion  should  be  adopted  for  committees  of  conference 
on  reunion.  Very  strong  committees  were  they,  which 
were  appointed  for  that  conference.  The  members  on 
the  part  of  the  Old  School  branch  were  Drs.  Musgrave, 
Hall,  Atwater,  Lord  and  Wilson,  and  Ruling  Elders 
Drake,  Francis,  Carter,  Grier  and  Day.  On  the  part 
of  the  New  School  the  members  were  Drs.  Adams, 
Stearns,  Patterson,  Fisher  and  Shaw,  with  Elders 
Strong,  Haines,  Dodge,  Farrand  and  Knight.  Better 
men  did  not  exist  in  either  branch  or  in  any  branch  of 
the  evangelical  Churches  in  this  country,  They  were 
set  to  do  an  honorable  thing  in  an  honorable  way,  and 
being  men  of  pure  minds,  clear  heads  and  firm  pur- 
pose they  had  no  great  difficulty  in  discovering  that 
way. 

They  were  not  a  little  helped  by  various  outside 
meetings  during  the  Assemblies.  The  elders  of  the  two 
Assemblies  held  joint  prayer  meetings.  The  two  As- 
semblies were  brought  together  by  the  hospitable  people 
of  New  York  at  a  public  reception.  They  heard  each 
other  preach  on  the  Sabbath  days,  and  by  and  by  early 
prayer  meetings  were  convened  on  the  days  of  the  busi- 
ness sessions.  Members  of  the  different  Assemblies 
were  entertained  at  the  same  hotels.  In  the  hotel,  in 
the  omnibuses,  in  the  street  cars,  going  to  church  and 
coming  from  church,  the  subject  was  talked  over  in 
every  aspect,  and  differences  continued  to  disappear. 

Finally  the  joint  committee  unanimously  agreed  upon 
a  report.  The  vote  in  the  Old  School  Assembly  for 
the  adoption  of  the  report  stood  285  to  9.     In  the  New 


REUNION   AND   CONSOLIDATION.  227 

School  Assembly  by  a  rising  vote  the  report  was  de- 
clared adopted  unanimously.  There  was  no  formal  pro- 
test entered  even  by  the  persistent  minority  in  the  Old 
School  Assembly;  and  the  plan  of  the  joint  committee 
was  overtured  to  the  Presbyteries  in  sharp,  categor- 
ical form.  It  was  to  be  answered  by  a  simple  "  yes  "  or 
"no"  on  the  part  of  each  Presbytery. 

Scattered  throughout  the  Church  there  were  a  few 
men  of  marked  ability  that  to  the  very  last  doubted  the 
wisdom  and  safety  of  the  step.  Previous  Assemblies 
had  received  and  recorded  able  protests,  not  so  much 
against  the  method  of  reunion  as  against  the  thing 
itself.  To  these  protests  ample  and  conclusive  answers 
had  been  adopted  by  the  Assemblies.  At  last  both 
bodies  were  substantially  a  unit  upon  the  subject.  So 
confident  were  all  parties  that  the  Presbyteries  would 
adopt  the  basis  of  union  thus  sent  down  to  them,  that 
when  the  Assemblies  adjourned,  they  adjourned  to  meet 
in  Pittsburgh  that  same  autumn.  The  vote  of  each  As- 
sembly had  been  formally  announced  to  the  other.  It 
was  well  known  before  the  announcement  what  the  re- 
port would  be  ;  but  the  formality  of  the  announcement 
was  the  opportunity  for  an  outburst  of  applause.  When 
they  adjourned,  it  was  only  to  be  separated  for  a  brief 
six  months,  and  then  to  reassemble  on  the  ioth  day  of 
November,  the  New  School  body  in  the  Third  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Pittsburgh,  and  the  Old  School  body 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  same  city.  The 
secular  press,  as  well  as  the  religious,  was  active  and 
earnest  for  reunion.  A  very  prominent  statesman  said 
after  the  separation  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  sec- 
tions of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1861,  that   he  had  little  hope  of  the  country  now  that 


228  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  Presbyterian  Church  was  divided.  Large-minded 
men  outside  of  the  Presbyterian  fold  believed  that  the 
reunion  of  the  Old  School  and  New  School  Churches 
would  be  a  great  matter  for  the  unity  of  the  whole 
country. 

When  the  Assemblies  met  together  at  Pittsburgh,  the 
report  to  the  Old  School  Assembly  showed  that  there 
were  in  existence  one  hundred  and  forty-four  Pres- 
byteries. Of  these  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
answered  the  overture  in  the  affirmative,  and  but 
three  in  the  negative.  Of  the  thirteen  that  did  not 
answer,  some  were  in  the  foreign  field,  others  were 
so  situated  in  the  home  field  that  the  members  could 
not  get  together  for  an  extra  meeting.  Some  who 
could  not  formally  meet  had  sent  a  circular  letter 
around  the  membership  and  forwarded  that  letter 
signed  by  a  majority  of  their  whole  number.  In  the 
New  School  body  there  were  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
Presbyteries.  Official  responses  had  been  received 
from  all  of  them,  and  every  Presbytery  had  voted  in 
the  affirmative.  These  facts  were  fully  known  before 
the  Assemblies  convened,  but  their  announcement 
was  loudly  applauded  and  gave  universal  satisfaction. 
Through  the  summer,  as  the  votes  of  the  Presbyteries 
were  reported,  numerous  records  were  kept,  and  long 
before  all  the  Presbyteries  had  recorded  their  votes,  it 
was  known  that  sufficient  had  voted  in  the  affirmative  to 
carry  the  reunion,  no  matter  what  the  others  did.  When 
the  Assemblies,  therefore,  came  together,  the  question  of 
the  method  of  executing  the  reunion  had  been  carefully 
thought  out  by  the  joint  committee  on  reunion,  and  all 
the  arrangements  had  been   fully  planned. 

The  reports  of  the  votes  of  the  Presbyteries  of  each 


REUNION   AND  CONSOLIDATION. 


229 


Assembly  were  to  be  first  received  by  the  Assemblies 
to  which  they  belonged  ;  and  then,  at  ten  o'clock  on 
the  Friday  following  the  day  of  meeting,  committees 
were  to  notify  the  other  Assembly  of  the  final  action. 
The  Assemblies  met  on  Wednesday,  November  10, 
1869.     The  afternoon   of    that   day,  and   the  business 


mt^^WKKVKi^ 


ART   BUILDING,    LAKE   FOREST   UNIVERSITY,    LAKE   FOREST,    ILL. 


hours  of  the  day  following,  sufficed  for  the  little  routine 
business  matters  which  needed  attention,  and  forgetting 
the  reports  of  the  Presbyteries  and  the  various  com- 
mittees before  their  Assemblies  and  by  them  adopted. 
At  ten  o'clock  on  Friday,  November  12,  1869,  both 
Assemblies  had  heard  the  reports  of  their  own  Pres- 
byteries, and  from  their  committees  the  official  noti- 
fication of  the  other  Assembly.  Each  Assembly  then 
formally  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  First  Church  in 
Philadelphia  on  the  first  Thursday  of  May,  1870.  By 
this  method  the    meeting  of    the  Assembly    in    Phila- 


23O  PRESBYTERIANS. 

delphia,  in  1870,  was  the  legal  official  successor  of 
each  of  these  Assemblies.  This  avoided  all  possibility 
of  legal  controversy. 

But  some  manifestation  of  the  reunion  must  of  course 
be  had  during  this  Pittsburgh  meeting.  The  New 
School  Assembly,  therefore,  promptly  left  the  Third 
Church  and  marched,  single  file,  down  past  the  First 
Church,  where  the  Old  School  Assembly  had  gath- 
ered. Upon  the  appearance  of  Rev.  P.  H.  Fowler, 
D.  D.,  its  Moderator,  at  the  head  of  the  New  School 
line,  the  Old  School  Assembly,  in  single  file,  led  by  its 
Moderator,  Rev.  M.  W.  Jacobus,  D.  D.,  marched  out 
of  the  church,  and  the  two  Assemblies  then  marched 
along  opposite  sides  of  the  street  until  both  bodies 
were  paraded  before  the  thousands  who  from  the  street 
windows  and  sidewalks  watched  the  ceremony.  They 
then  halted,  and  facing  each  other,  met  in  the  middle  of 
the  street,  shook  hands,  and  in  double  file,  led  by  their 
Moderators  arm  in  arm,  proceeded  to  the  Third  Church 
for  a  mass  meeting  celebrating  the  event.  The  public 
enthusiasm,  as  well  as  that  of  the  members  of  the  Assem- 
blies, seemed  to  know  no  bounds  ;  and  a  continuous  ova- 
tion of  clapping  hands,  waving  signals  of  joy,  and  cheers 
from  the  people  greeted  the  body  on  their  way  to  ratify, 
by  public  sentiment,  what  had  already  been  accom- 
plished by  legal  form. 

The  meeting  was  a  thanksgiving  celebration  and  not 
a  business  meeting.  It  was  the  climax  up  to  which 
previous  meetings  had  fitly  led  the  public  feeling,  and 
from  which  subsequent  meetings  fitly  carried  on  the 
sentiment  of  consecration  to  the  enlarged  work  for  the 
reunited  Church.  An  immense  mass  meeting  in  the  in- 
terest of  Home   Missions   had   been   held   in    the   First 


REUNION   AND  CONSOLIDATION.  23 1 

Church  the  night  preceding.  Aggressive  Home  Mis- 
sion work  was  one  of  the  objects  sought  in  the  reunion. 
A  similar  meeting  in  behalf  of  Foreign  Missions  was 
held  on  the  following  evening,  and  both  were  largely 
attended  by  the  members  of  the  Assemblies.  On  the 
afternoon  of  that  famous  Friday  the  two  Assemblies 
met  that  they  might,  as  members  of  one  body,  partake 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  One  of  the  addresses  at  the 
table  was  made  by  the  Rev.  R.  K.  Rodgers,  a  descend- 
ant of  the  John  Rodgers  who,  in  1789,  had  been  the 
first  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly. 

But  such  a  mass  meeting  as  was  held  that  morning 
could  not  adjourn  without  doing  something.  Able  ad- 
dresses had  been  made  by  the  two  Moderators,  and 
amid  prolonged  and  deafening  applause,  at  the  close 
of  his  address,  Dr.  Fowler  turned  to  Dr.  Jacobus  and 
they  grasped  hands.  Dr.  David  Elliot,  who  had  been 
Moderator  at  the  time  of  the  division  in  1837,  was  on 
the  platform,  and  under  the  metaphor  of  a  marriage  at 
which  he  imagined  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  High  Priest 
of  our  profession,  as  officiating,  Dr.  Jacobus  addressed 
particularly  Dr.  Elliot,  and  said  :  "  If  there  be  any 
person  present  who  knows  of  any  reason,  just  and  suf- 
ficient, why  these  parties  may  not  be  lawfully  united  let 
him  speak,  or  ever  after  hold  his  peace."  On  behalf  of 
the  public,  after  a  pause,  Dr.  Elliot  said  :  "  I  know  of 
none."  George  H.  Stuart,  who  was  a  sympathetic 
spectator,  though  of  another  denomination,  said : 
"Whom  God  hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put 
asunder."  And  Dr.  Jacobus  added,  "  In  the  name  of 
God,  Amen."  Amens  sounded  throughout  the  house. 
Subsequent  addresses  were  made  by  Dr.  G.  W.  Mus- 
grave,    Dr.    Wm.    Adams,    Dr.    John    Hall,    Hon.  Win. 


232  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Strong  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  C.  D. 
Drake,  then  a  United  States  Senator  from  Missouri, 
Hon.  Henry  Day  and  William  E.  Dodge  of  New  York, 
and  George  H.  Stuart  of  Philadelphia.  Prayers  had 
been  offered  by  Dr.  E.  F.  Hatfield  and  Robert  Carter 
of  New  York. 

Dr.  S.  W.  Fisher,  of  the  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, had  been  appointed  to  report  some  suitable 
method  of  commemorating  the  reunion.  As  chairman 
of  the  sub-committee  for  that  purpose  he  presented  a 
paper  recommending  that  the  reunited  Church  raise  a 
"  Memorial  Fund  of  One  Million  Dollars,"  as  a  special 
offering  to  the  treasury  of  the  Lord.  An  amendment 
to  make  it  five  millions  was  at  once  made  and  accepted, 
and  then  the  whole  suggestion  was  unanimously  carried. 
A  committee  of  leading  laymen  was  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  the  movement.  This  committee  promptly 
elected  Rev.  F.  F.  Ellinwood,  D.  D.,  as  Secretary  of 
that  Memorial  Fund.  Dr.  Ellinwood  had  been  the 
Secretary  of  Church  Erection  for  the  New  School 
body,  and  was  known  to  be  eminently  enterprising,  ac- 
tive and  practical.  The  objects  assigned  as  suitable 
for  the  reception  of  gifts  were  "  Theological  and  other 
educational  buildings  in  this  country,  and  especially 
among  freedmen.  and  like  institutions  in  the  Foreign 
Field,  church  buildings,  manses,  hospitals,  or  orphan 
asylums  in  connection  with  our  churches,  and  special 
contributions  for  permanent  endowments  of  our  own 
enterprises  of  every  form."  Under  the  appeal  of  this 
committee,  the  ingenuity  and  ambition  of  the  Church 
was  stimulated  to  take  up  all  sorts  of  helpful  enterprises 
as  connected  with  church  work,  and  include  them  in 
their  memorial  contributions.      The  committee  made  its 


REUNION   AND   CONSOLIDATION.  233 

final  report  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1872,  and  re- 
ported the  magnificent  sum  of  $7,833,983.85.  Some 
sport  was  made  out  of  some  of  the  objects  included 
in  the  memorial  contributions  by  some  of  the  weaker 
churches.  Some  included  new  organs,  new  towers  for 
the  church  buildings,  new  horse-sheds  and  various  im- 
provements likely  to  increase  the  comfort  of  their 
pastor  and  the  size  of  their  congregations.  Investiga- 
tion subsequently,  however,  showed  that  the  amount  of 
these  debatable  contributions  actually  included  in  the 
sum  total  was  small.  The  real  contributions  to  the 
actual  working  power  of  the  Church  was  far  in  excess  of 
the  five  millions  originally  proposed. 

It  is  a  good  thing  for  any  denomination  every  ten  or 
twenty  years  to  stir  up  the  enthusiasm  of  its  members 
to  overhaul  the  entire  plant  of  its  church  work,  and  re- 
place or  reconstruct  all  defective  buildings  or  insuffi- 
cient machinery.  People  may  be  planning  such  things 
for  years,  but  a  great  concurrent  movement  changes 
these  suggestions  from  mere  indefinite  plans  to  actual 
accomplished  helps.  It  is  a  great  blessing  to  the 
Church  throughout  its  entire  length  and  breadth  to  have 
before  it  for  some  years  the  history  of  its  past,  the  con- 
dition of  its  present  and  the  tasks  of  its  future,  to  be 
carefully  resurveyed  by  all  its  ministers  and  people. 

During  the  progress  of  the  raising  of  the  Memorial 
Fund  much  fear  was  expressed  in  various  directions 
lest  such  an  extra  effort  would  cut  down  the  regular 
contributions  to  church  work,  and  so  be  an  injury 
rather  than  a  benefit.  A  few  years  after  it  was  over, 
however,  Dr.  Ellinwood  was  able  to  show  by  actual 
figures  that,  instead  of  interfering  with  regular  work,  it 
made  the  gifts  to  the  church  enterprises  greater  than 


234  PRESBYTERIANS. 

before.  Enlargement  of  the  heart  is  a  dangerous  dis- 
ease for  the  body  ;  but  it  is  metaphorically  a  very 
healthy  process  for  the  spiritual  nature.  No  Church 
ever  died  of  giving  too  much.  The  campaign  for  the 
Centenary  Fund  for  the  Endowment  of  the  Ministerial 
Relief  Board  had  precisely  the  same  history.  It  was 
feared  as  liable  to  overtax  the  Church,  but,  in  fact,  it 
was  an  education  for  the  church  members  in  the  whole 
scope  of  church  machinery.  Gifts  have  been  greater 
in  all  directions  ever  since. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

READJUSTMENTS     CONSTANTLY     NECESSITATED     BY     LARGE- 
NESS   AND    GROWTH. 

THE  highest  judicatory  of  a  small  denomination 
can  take  time  at  its  sessions  to  consider  the  de- 
tails of  the  church  work  of  its  separate  congregations. 
When  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  included  in  one 
Presbytery,  or  even  when  it  was  all  controlled  by  one 
small  Synod,  it  was  possible  that  each  transfer  of  a 
minister  from  one  field  to  another  should  be  considered, 
and  each  vacant  church  listened  to  while  it  applied  for 
the  means  of  grace.  As  denominations  grow  larger, 
however,  time  cannot  be  taken  to  consider  all  these 
cases.  The  early  Synods  and  General  Assemblies  lis- 
tened attentively  to  "  appeal  cases  "  of  discipline  where 
private  members  were  dissatisfied  with  the  decision  of 
their  Session.  What  was  possible,  however,  when  the 
total  number  of  ministers  was  one  hundred  or  less,  and 
the  churches  numbered  less  than  two  hundred,  was  not 
possible  when  there  came  to  be  five  thousand  ministers 
and  more  than  five  thousand  churches.  One  by  one, 
throughout  the  history  of  the  Church,  steps  have  been 
taken  to  relieve  the  General  Assembly  of  these  details 
of  local  administration.  The  General  Assembly  sits, 
ordinarily,  less  than  two  weeks.  The  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  is  in  session  oftentimes  six  months, 
and  yet  the  Court  is  over  two  years  behind  its  business. 
Complaint   is  often    made    that    important   matters  are 

235 


236  PRESBYTERIANS. 

crowded  out  of  the  Assembly  by  other  matters  which 
some  do  not  consider  important.  But  the  General  As- 
sembly cannot  consider  everything  in  a  ten  days'  ses- 
sion. From  the  reunion  onward,  various  methods  have 
been  adopted  to  enable  the  General  Assembly  to  con- 
sider the  great  permanent  questions  of  policy,  and  give 
it  relief  from  being  taxed  by  minor  matters. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  reunited  General  Assembly, 
in  1870,  had  its  hands  full  with  the  work  of  reconstruc- 
tion. The  members  of  that  Assembly  were  elected  by 
the  Presbyteries,  as  these  Presbyteries  had  been  con- 
structed by  the  separate  branches  of  the  Church  pre- 
vious to  the  reunion.  The  Reunion  Committee  had 
reported  certain  Concurrent  Resolutions,  and  these  in- 
cluded the  readjustment  of  all  matters  of  boundaries 
by  the  reunited  Assembly  when  it  convened.  This 
compelled  a  reconstruction  of  all  the  Synods,  and  then 
to  these  reconstructed  Synods  was  referred  the  business 
of  reconstructing  all  the  Presbyteries.  It  was  decided 
to  proceed  in  this  work  by  geographical  boundaries,  so 
that  each  minister  and  church  should  be  subject  to 
that  Presbytery  or  Synod  within  whose  physical  terri- 
tory the  party  naturally  belonged. 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  a  proj- 
ect was  attempted  of  consolidating  the  treasurerships 
of  all  the  various  boards.  At  present  each  board  has 
its  own  treasurer  and  keeps  its  own  books.  It  was 
thought  that  a  central  treasurer  would  simplify  matters 
and  reduce  expenses.  To  a  certain  extent  this  project 
overlooked  the  importance  of  the  treasurer  as  an  ad- 
viser for  the  board.  His  work  gives  him  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  churches,  great  familiarity  with  the 
men,  and  exact  acquaintance  with  the  field.      No  secre- 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  237 

tary,  or  member  of  any  board,  is  more  familiar  with  the 
details  of  that  board's  work  than  its  treasurer.  The 
project  of  having  a  single  treasurer  for  all  the  boards 
of  the  Church,  therefore,  failed,  as  the  Church  came  to 
see  the  importance  of  this  officer  and  of  his  kind  of 
knowledge  for  the  efficient  work  of  the  board  itself. 

At  various  times  since  the  reunion  much  clamor  has 
been  raised  in  favor  of  the  "  consolidation  "  of  some  of 
these  boards.  At  first  sight  it  looks  as  if  Home  Mis- 
sions and  Freedmen  surely  could  be  consolidated.  Ed- 
ucation and  College  Aid  seem  to  be  so  much  in  the  same 
line,  that  many  think  these  could  be  one  board.  Home 
Missions  and  Church  Erection  occupy  and  inspect  the 
same  fields,  and  many  times  aid  the  same  churches. 
But  things  which  look  plausible  as  a  new  suggestion  are 
sometimes  found  to  be  extremely  impracticable,  when 
examination  is  had  of  all  the  bearings  of  the  case. 
Boards  which  represent  a  great  Church  like  the  Presby- 
terian Church  must  adapt  themselves  to  the  wishes  of 
givers,  to  the  needs  of  various  fields,  and  oftentimes  to 
the  prejudices  of  those  who  are  to  do  the  work.  Vested 
rights  and  titles  to  property  grow  out  of  the  peculiar- 
ities of  the  situation.  The  Board  of  Freedmen  carries 
on  all  sorts  of  work  which  may  be  demanded  by  the 
people  whose  interest  and  welfare  the  Board  seeks. 
The  Board  of  Church  Erection  is  the  recipient  of  nu- 
merous gifts  from  persons  willing  to  help  particular 
churches.  Bequests  or  gifts  are  granted  to  the  Board 
in  trust  for  certain  uses  ;  and  the  destruction  of  the 
Board,  or  its  consolidation  with  anything  else,  might  se- 
riously jeopardize  property  rights.  The  Board  of  Col- 
lege Aid  is  continually  dealing  with  the  corporation  laws 
of  various  States.     College  charters  must  be  good  both 


238 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY    NECESSITATED.  239 

in  the  particular  State  of  its  location  and  under  the 
United  States  law.  The  work  of  each  board  has  its 
perplexities  and  peculiarities,  and  though  the  cry  for 
"  consolidation  "  has  often  gone  out  from  the  Church 
and  seemed  to  have  great  popularity,  yet  no  scheme 
whereby  considerable  consolidation  could  be  secured  has 
yet  been  devised  which  would  obviate  the  difficulties  of 
the  case. 

One  great  burden  long  felt  by  the  General  Assembly 
was  the  careful  and  sufficient  trial  of  judicial  cases. 
Sometimes  methods  of  relief  have  been  adopted  that 
could  scarcely  be  defended  in  accordance  with  the  strict 
construction  of  the  Form  of  Government.  A  some- 
what inexperienced  member  of  the  Judicial  Committee 
of  a  certain  General  Assembly  asked  the  chairman  of 
his  committee  what  the  duties  of  the  committee  were. 
The  chairman  replied,  with  more  regard  to  facts  than  to 
the  constitution  :  "  The  business  of  our  committee  is 
to  find  some  way  to  save  the  General  Assembly  from 
wasting  time  on  judicial  cases."  This  need  of  relieving 
the  General  Assembly  from  the  burden  of  judicial  busi- 
ness was  one  strong  reason  which  led  the  Church,  about 
1880,  to  amend  the  Form  of  Government,  so  that  the  de- 
cisions of  Synods  should  be  final  in  all  cases  not  involv- 
ing doctrine  or  government.  (See  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, Chap.  1  1,  Sec.  4.)  This  was  the  rule  in  the  New 
School  Presbyterian  Church  adopted  in  1  S40.  It  is  not 
often  that  a  Synod  and  a  Presbytery  both  shall  be  en- 
tirely wrong  as  to  their  understanding  of  the  facts  of  a 
given  case.  This  is  especially  true  if  the  Synod  shall 
cover  a  large  State,  and  so  shall  include  in  its  member- 
ship those  not  likely  to  be  influenced  by  local  feelings 
and  prejudices. 


240  PRESBYTERIANS. 

As  part  of  the  system,  therefore,  of  diminishing  the 
work  of  the  General  Assembly  by  increasing  the  work  of 
the  Synods,  the  General  Assembly  of  1881  consolidated 
the  Synods  so  as  to  make  them  generally  conform  to 
State  bounds.  Where  a  State  is  small,  like  Delaware 
or  West  Virginia,  it  was  coupled  with  a  larger  State. 
Since  1881  most  of  the  Synods  include  the  Pres- 
byteries within  a  single  State.  If,  however,  the  old 
method  of  having  every  minister  a  member  of  Synod, 
and  giving  every  church  a  right  to  an  elder,  had  been 
still  in  force,  these  State  Synods  would  have  been  un- 
reasonably large.  That  rule,  if  now  in  force,  would 
have  made  the  total  possible  membership  of  the  Synod 
of  Pennsylvania  amount  to  2 109  persons  and  the  Synod 
of  Ohio  1 1 17  persons.  To  avoid  this  difficulty,  the 
Church  adopted  in  1880  a  rule  authorizing  Synods  to 
become  "  delegated  bodies."  The  number  of  delegates 
from  each  Presbytery  is  decided  by  the  Synod  and  its 
Presbyteries  themselves.  In  some  cases  it  is  one  min- 
ister for  every  six  members  of  Presbytery  ;  in  other 
cases  it  is  one  for  every  eight  or  ten.  As  a  fact  it  has 
been  found  that  the  change  of  a  Synod  from  a  body 
where  all  ministers  are  members,  to  a  delegated  body 
where  only  a  certain  number  from  each  Presbytery  can 
be  members,  has  not  seriously  diminished  the  size  of 
the  meetings  of  the  Synod.  Where  attendance  is  vol- 
untary a  large  number  cannot  go  owing  to  health  and 
special  pressure  of  business.  Others  cannot  go  owing 
to  distance  and  expense.  Where  a  Synod  is  a  dele- 
gated body,  Presbyteries  usually  elect  those  who  indicate 
beforehand  their  ability  to  attend.  By  this  process  the 
work  of  the  Synods  has  been  made  highly  important,  and 
the  work  of  the  General  Assembly  greatly  diminished. 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY    NECESSITATED.  24I 

From  the  earliest  history  of  Presbyterianism  it  has 
been  recognized  as  the  right  of  the  General  Assembly 
or  a  Synod  to  appoint  a  Commission  clothed  with  the 
power  of  Synod  to  discharge  certain  duties.  Such 
Commissions  have  not  been  uncommon  in  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  other  countries.  The  early  Synod  ap- 
pointed an  annual  Commission,  and  theoretically  clothed 
that  Commission  with  the  whole  power  of  the  Synod. 
This  made  the  Commission  somewhat  like  the  Synod 
sitting  the  whole  year,  and  adjourning  from  time  to 
time  as  business  might  require.  It  was  not,  therefore, 
a  new  suggestion  that  "Judicial  Commissions  "  might 
be  appointed.  It  was  simply  an  adaptation  of  a  prin- 
ciple of  church  government  always  previously  recog- 
nized, that  it  might  now  be  applied  to  a  more  careful 
trying  of  judicial  cases.  In  1879,  therefore,  an  overture 
was  sent  down  from  the  General  Assembly  to  the 
Presbyteries  for  such  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion as  would  authorize  the  appointment  of  a  special  Ju- 
dicial Commission  for  each  case.  The  decision  of  such  a 
Commission  is  to  be  reported  to  the  body  that  appointed 
it.  This  has  been  found  to  be  a  good  solution  of  the 
question  of  time.  It  is  a  good  solution  also,  as  to  the 
question  of  securing  suitable  persons  to  try  appeal  cases. 
Many  a  minister  or  prudent  elder  may  be  an  excellent 
speaker  and  a  very  pious  man  without  being  at  the 
same  time  an  ecclesiastical  judge,  and  a  person  compe- 
tent to  sift  evidence  and  measure  its  weight.  These 
Judicial  Commissions  are  appointed  for  the  purpose  of 
having  the  most  suitable  men  to  try  each  case.  Most 
commonly  these  Judicial  Commissions  are  in  fact  Com- 
missions of  Arbitration,  as  their  members  are  agreed 
upon  by  the  parties  to   the  case.      The  decision   of  the 


242  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Commission  is  reported  to  the  appointing  body,  and 
entered  on  its  records.  The  proposition  for  a  perma- 
nent Judicial  Commission  had  been  presented  to,  dis- 
cussed and  dismissed  without  action  in  the  Old  School 
Assemblies  of  1849,  1854  and  1855.  It  was  up  again 
in  1866,  and  this  time  an  overture  on  the  subject  was 
sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  and  defeated  in  them. 
These  discussions  prepared  the  Church  for  this  step  of 
special  Judicial  Commissions  as  a  good  mode  of  pro- 
cedure for  the  higher  Church  Judicatories  in  appeal 
cases. 

The  old  book  of  church  discipline  had  been  drawn 
when  the  Church  was  comparatively  small,  and  its 
membership  not  widely  scattered.  Constantly,  as  the 
Church  grew,  various  amendments  were  advocated, 
and  various  propositions  at  different  times  were  con- 
sidered for  submitting  to  the  Church  a  Revised  Book 
of  Discipline.  It  is  probable  that  the  Old  School 
Presbyterian  Church  would  have  adopted  substantially 
the  report  of  its  committee  for  the  revision  of  its  Book 
of  Discipline  in  1863,  Dut  tnat  reunion  was  then  in 
sight.  It  was  thought  that  a  new  Book  of  Discipline 
adopted  by  either  would  increase  the  obstacles  to  such 
a  reunion,  and  the  project  was,  therefore,  in  1864 
abandoned.  But  in  the  General  Assembly  of  1878  a 
committee  on  the  revision  of  the  Book  of  Discipline 
was  appointed.  Of  that  committee  Rev.  E.  R.  Craven, 
D.  D.,  was  chairman.  He  and  his  committee  labored 
for  years,  corresponding  with  the  ablest  ministers  and 
laymen  in  the  Church,  and  securing  suggestions  from 
every  quarter.  The  committee  made  its  final  report  to 
the  General  Assembly  in  1883.  The  report  was  ap- 
proved by  that  Assembly,  and  sent  down  as  an  over- 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  243 

ture  for  adoption  or  rejection  by  the  Presbyteries. 
When  the  Assembly  of  1884  came  together,  it  was 
manifest  that  the  report  was  adopted.  But  at  the  same 
time  it  was  obvious  that  there  was  very  widespread 
objection  to  a  few  features  of  the  report.  The  com- 
mittee of  the  Assembly  of  1884,  to  consider  the  answers 
of  the  Presbyteries,  reported  to  the  General  Assembly 
that  the  whole  was  adopted  ;  but  that  the  adoption  or 
rejection  of  those  parts  most  numerously  objected  to 
by  the  Presbyteries  would  not  interfere  with  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  book,  and  recommended  the  General 
Assembly  to  declare  the  New  Book  of  Discipline 
adopted,  but  yet  to  send  down  certain  sections  for  a 
second  vote  from  the  Presbyteries,  which  vote  should 
be  taken  separately  on  the  specified  chapters  and  sec- 
tions. The  question  of  the  votes  on  these  specified 
sections  reached  the  General  Assembly  of  1885,  and 
the  present  Book  of  Discipline  is  the  outcome  of  that 
process  of  revision.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  book  of 
discipline  could  be  framed  to  which  there  would  not  be 
objection  from  some  quarter.  The  present  book  seems 
to  be  generally  satisfactory  to  the  Church.  The  com- 
mittee sought  to  make  it  so  consistent,  simple  and 
definite  that  every  Session,  Presbytery  or  Synod  could 
find  in  it  intelligible  directions  for  dealing  with  every 
actual  case. 

The  growth  of  the  mission  work  in  many  of  the  For- 
eign fields  has  long  ago  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  as  well  as  of  churches.  The 
spirit  of  union  was  active  and  influential  in  these  fields. 
Among  these  people  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  led  the 
native  converts  to  desire  a  church  organization  and 
name  in  connection  with  their  own  country.      It  seemed 


244  PRESBYTERIANS. 

to  these  native  Christians  an  unreasonable  thing  that 
their  church  membership  should  remain  in  a  denomina- 
tion whose  national  locality  was  on  the  other  side  of 
the  globe.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  sections  of  the 
American  continent  this  national  jealousy  plays  a  more 
conspicuous  part  in  interfering  with  missionary  work 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  American  mis- 
sionaries are  charged  with  being  national  emissaries 
of  this  government,  and  native  church  members  are 
charged  by  their  own  government  with  disloyalty. 

The  time  had  come  when  this  question  of  national 
Churches  in  Brazil  and  Japan  required  prompt  solution. 
It  was  the  embarrassment  of  success.  If  our  missions 
in  these  countries  had  remained  but  small,  and  there 
had  been  no  disposition  among  Presbyterian  mission- 
aries belonging  to  other  Presbyterian  denominations 
to  unite  together  in  a  national  Presbyterian  Church, 
things  would  have  gone  on  as  they  had  heretofore 
done.  This  matter  was  brought  before  the  General  As- 
sembly  of  1886  at  Minneapolis,  and  an  able  committee, 
with  Dr.  D.  W.  Fisher,  President  of  Hanover  College,  as 
its  chairman,  was  appointed  to  consider  and  report  upon 
the  whole  subject.  At  the  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sembly in  Omaha,  in  1887,  this  committee  recommended 
the  Assembly  to  approve  of  the  union  of  our  mission- 
aries, and  the  churches  under  our  care,  in  such  fields  as 
might  seem  to  the  missionaries  proper  to  co-operate 
therein  in  establishing  a  national  Presbyterian  Church. 
There  was  great  reluctance  in  adopting  this  report,  as 
it  would  seem  to  sever  the  beloved  Foreign  mission- 
aries from  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  and  home 
churches,  with  which  they  were  united  in  the  tenderest 
affections.      However  obvious  might  appear  the  ultimate 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  245 

necessity  of  such  a  course,  the  Church  was  scarcely 
willing  to  take  the  step  at  that  time. 

The  speeches  of  some  of  the  missionaries  who  were 
members  of  that  Assembly  probably  turned  the  tide 
and  settled  the  vote.  They  said  they  had  not  gone  out 
into  the  Foreign  work  from  sentimental  motives,  but 
from  a  sense  of  duty.  To  them  it  seemed  that  if  the 
prosperity  of  the  kingdom  called  for  the  sundering  of 
these  ties,  and  the  unification  and  identification  of  the 
missionaries  with  the  converts  and  congregations  which 
had  resulted  from  their  labor,  their  duty  was  to  accept 
this  result  of  success,  and  unite  with  the  churches  in  an 
appeal  to  patriotism,  as  well  as  religion,  to  push  forward 
the  work.  Foreign  missionaries  who  were  thus  ecclesi- 
astically severed  from  the  home  churches  are  still  to  be 
retained  upon  the  rolls  of  the  Foreign  Board,  receive 
their  support  from  the  Foreign  Board,  and,  whether 
men  or  women,  have  equal  right  to  future  help,  as  their 
cases  may  require,  from  the  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief. 
It  was  a  tender  and  trying  ordeal  through  which  the 
Church  at  home  and  her  missionary  force  abroad  were 
compelled  to  pass  ;  and  yet  to  it  all  parties  were  com- 
pelled by  the  largeness  of  the  growth  and  the  prospec- 
tive success  of  the  great  work. 

Throughout  the  whole  history  of  the  Church  its 
increased  membership  has  compelled  a  change  in  the 
"  Ratio  of  Representation  "  for  the  constitution  of  the 
General  Assembly.  When  in  1788  the  Synod  came  to 
organize  the  General  Assembly,  the  ratio  of  representa- 
tion was  fixed  as  one  minister  and  one  elder  for  every 
six  ministers  in  a  Presbytery.  In  1819  the  ratio  was 
changed  to  one  minister  and  one  elder  for  every  nine 
ministers    in    a    Presbytery.       In     1826    the   ratio   was 


246  PRESBYTERIANS. 

changed  to  a  minister  and  an  elder  for  every  twelve 
ministers  in  a  Presbytery.  In  1833  it  was  changed  to 
a  minister  and  an  elder  for  every  twenty-four  ministers. 
When  the  reunion  came  in  1870,  this  basis  made  a 
membership  of  595. 

It  was  felt  that  this  made  a  very  large  body  for 
efficient  work,  and  the  steady  growth  of  the  first  few 
years  showed  that  some  method  must  be  adopted  for 
limiting  the  number  of  members  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly. The  first  project  hit  upon  and  persistently  pushed 
was  what  was  known  as  "  Synodical  Representation." 
The  members  of  the  General  Assembly  have  always 
been  elected  by  the  Presbyteries.  Presbyteries  must 
meet  frequently,  and  should  not  cover  too  large  a  ter- 
ritorial space.  Synods  meet  but  once  a  year,  and  may 
cover  (as  they  do  now)  entire  States.  If  the  right  to 
elect  members  of  the  General  Assembly  was  transferred 
from  the  Presbyteries  to  the  Synods,  it  was  thought 
that  it  could  be  put  in  a  permanently  manageable 
shape.  By  reducing  the  ratio  year  after  year  from  the 
Synods,  as  had  been  previously  done  for  the  Presby- 
teries, the  Assembly  could  always  be  kept  to  a  mem- 
bership of  three  or  four  hundred.  Year  after  year 
overtures  for  this  change  in  the  form  of  government 
were  sent  down  from  the  General  Assembly.  Each 
time  the  proposition  was  defeated  in  the  Presbyteries. 
At  a  General  Assembly,  where  the  question  was  certain 
to  come  up  as  again  defeated  in  the  Presbyteries,  a 
leading  minister  was  asked  what  was  proposed  to  be 
done  in  the  matter  of  limiting  the  size  of  the  Assembly. 
He  replied  :  "  Synodical  representation  is  the  only 
thing  that  will  do  it  ;  and  we  must  keep  on  sending 
that  overture  down   until    the    Presbyteries    shall    feel 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  247 

compelled  to  adopt  it."  It  was  sent  down  again,  and 
more  overwhelmingly  defeated  than  ever  before  Since 
that  time  it  has  been  abandoned. 

But  the  growing  size  of  the  Assembly,  and  the 
expense  of  its  meetings,  absolutely  demanded  some 
remedy.  Various  plans  were  proposed  to  the  Presby- 
teries and  rejected.  In  1884  several  requests  from 
different  sections  came  asking  some  relief.  The  present 
rule,  sent  down  in  1884,  was  adopted  in  1885.  "Each 
Presbytery,  consisting  of  not  more  than  twenty-four 
ministers,  shall  send  one  minister  and  one  elder;  and 
an  additional  minister  and  an  elder  for  each  additional 
fractional  number  of  ministers  not  less  than  twelve." 
But  even  this  still  gives  a  General  Assembly,  as  in  1891, 
of  533.  This  would  be  an  unendurable  financial  burden 
if  the  expenses  had  been  left  on  the  members  and 
entertainment  was  to  be  provided  by  the  Presbyterians 
of  the  city  where  the  Assembly  was  convened. 

In  early  times  ministers  had  to  pay  their  own  trav- 
eling expenses  in  going  to  the  General  Assembly. 
Otherwise,  though  rarely,  these  expenses  were  paid  by 
the  Presbytery  which  sent  them.  When  the  Atlantic 
Coast  was  mission  territory,  and  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains and  the  Mississippi  Valley  were  fields  to  be  trav- 
ersed by  itinerant  missionaries,  going  to  the  General 
Assembly  at  Philadelphia  was  a  great  burden  in  those 
days  of  hard  travel.  Members  often  went  hundreds  of 
miles  on  horseback.  It  took  longer  time  to  go  and 
longer  time  to  return  than  was  occupied  by  the  meet- 
ing. As  early  as  1735,  the  Synod  recommended  the 
churches  to  raise  funds  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their 
elders  in  attending  Synod.  The  meetings  of  Synod 
were    usually     held     in     Philadelphia,     as    the     center 


248  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  the  Church.  This  made  the  long  journeys  come 
upon  the  mission  Presbyteries,  and  the  short  trips 
fall  to  the  lot  of  the  richer  pastors  and  elders. 
The  project  of  a  mileage  fund,  raised  by  collections  in 
the  richer  churches,  recommended  in  1803  was  not  much 
of  a  success,  though  the  spirit  of  it  was  most  admirable. 
When  the  meetings  of  the  Assembly  came  to  be  scat- 
tered over  the  country  in  various  places,  Presbyteries 
found  it  a  more  practicable  task  to  bear  the  expenses 
of  their  own  delegates.  But  when  finally  there  came 
to  be  Synods  and  Presbyteries  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  through  the  whole  West, 
honorable  men,  ministers  and  laymen,  saw  that  it  was 
an  unfair  thing  permanently  to  load  these  men  with  the 
expense  of  attending  the  meetings  in  the  East,  or  else 
altogether  deprive  those  Presbyteries  of  the  privilege 
of  being  represented  in  these  Assemblies. 

The  whole  subject  was  carefully  discussed  at  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Chicago,  in  1877. 
It  was  there  proposed  that  in  addition  to  the  Mileage 
Fund  provided  by  the  General  Assembly  and  assessed 
by  the  Assembly  as  a  per  capita  tax  from  the  whole 
Church,  there  should  also  be  added  a  certain  sum  as  an 
"  Entertainment  Fund"  to  be  expended  by  the  local 
committee  of  arrangements  of  the  General  Assembly 
in  caring  for  the  members.  Previous  to  that  time  the 
Assembly  had  gone  only  to  such  places  as  had  in- 
vited it,  with  an  implied  promise  of  entertainment 
gratis  to  members  in  the  homes  of  the  Presbyterian 
people  of  the  city.  It  looked  for  a  time  as  if  there 
would  be  no  invitation  for  the  Assembly  of  1878. 
When  the  suggestion  was  made  that  a  respectable  sum 
should  be  furnished  as  as  Entertainment  Fund,  several 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  249 

persons  said  that  this  solution  of  the  difficulty  would 
be  complete.  At  such  places  as  Saratoga  and  other 
"  Watering  Places,"  entertainment  could  be  provided 
for  the  whole  body  for  the  ordinary  duration  of  a 
session,  at  houses  within  easy  reach  of  the  meetings. 
Since  then  the  annual  assessment  has  been  seven  cents 
per  communicant ;  four  cents  of  this  for  mileage,  one 
and  one-half  cents  for  entertainment,  and  one  and 
one-half  cents  for  the  Contingent  Fund.  The  total 
amount    received    from    this    assessment    in    1891    was 

$5i»725-97. 

Fifty  thousand  dollars  seems  a  large  sum  to  be  ex- 
pended in  securing  a  full  attendance  and  suitable  enter- 
tainment of  the  members  for  a  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  this 
sum  includes  all  the  expenses  of  the  executive  adminis- 
tration of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  If  a  Church  will  in- 
sist upon  growing  to  a  membership  of  six  thousand  two 
hundred  and  twenty-three  ministers,  with  seven  thou- 
sand and  seventy  churches  and  eight  hundred  and  six 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-six  communicants, 
it  cannot  expect  to  run  so  large  a  machine  with  the 
small  amount  of  money  which  the  same  demonination 
required,  with  less  than  two  hundred  ministers  and  not 
four  hundred  churches.  There  are  very  few  Presby- 
teries wherein  the  assessment  amounts  to  over  ten  cents 
a  member.  Seven  cents  of  this  are  for  the  General  As- 
sembly assessment,  and  the  other  three  cents  per  mem- 
ber for  Presbyterial  and  Synodical  expenses.  Ten 
cents  per  member  is  not  a  large  sum  to  be  expended  by 
a  denomination  whose  total  financial  operations  in  189  1 
footed  up  $13,961,211.  At  ten  cents  per  member  it 
would  amount  to  about  $80,000,  or  very  much  less  than 


250 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


one   per    cent,  of    the   whole   financial    income    of    the 
Church. 

The  question  is  often  asked  whether  the  meetings  of 
the  General  Assembly  are  worth  the  amount  of  money 
which  such  meetings  cost.  The  question  is  seldom 
raised  by  those  who  have  been  privileged  to  attend 
these  annual  gatherings  of  the  Church.     The  public  sen- 


MACALASTER  COLLEGE,  ST.  PAUL,  MINN. 

timent  of  the  denomination  has  insisted  that  the  time  of 
the  Assembly  shall  not  be  given  up  to  unimportant  or 
local  matters  ;  but  that  the  great  questions  that  belong- 
to  the  whole  Church  shall  have  a  full  hearing  and  ample 
consideration.  These  propositions  are  pre-eminently 
such  as  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Boards.  The  benevo- 
lent movements  managed  by  these  Boards  are  the  en- 
terprises to  which  the  gifts  of  the  people  go,  and  from 
which  this  rapid  growth  of  the  past  has  come.  In 
order,  therefore,  that  at  the  General  Assembly  these 
Boards  may  have  timely  consideration,  and  full  notice  of 
the  hour   when   that  consideration   shall   be  had,  and  a 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  25  I 

good  opportunity  to  prepare  their  reports  and  addresses 
before  that  time,  "  Standing  Orders  "  have  been  fixed 
by  the  Assembly,  and  in  a  certain  sense  a  programme 
mapped  out  for  the  consideration  of  every  such  cause. 
That  programme  of  "  Standing  Orders  "  is  itself  an  inter- 
esting study,  and  indicates  clearly  the  missionary  spirit 
of  the  denomination.  It  shows  that  a  resolute  purpose 
is  adhered  to  for  pushing  these  benevolent  enterprises. 
To  Home  Missions  and  to  Foreign  Missions,  each,  there 
are  assigned  two  and  one-half  hours.  To  Education, 
Publication,  Church  Erection,  Ministerial  Relief,  Freed- 
men,  Temperance  and  Aid  for  Colleges  one  and  one- 
half  hours  each.  This  time  is  given  in  the  midst  of  the 
business  sessions  as  follows  :  Ministerial  Relief,  first 
Saturday  morning ;  Freedmen,  first  Monday  morn- 
ing ;  Education,  Monday  afternoon  ;  Home  Missions, 
first  Tuesday  morning  ;  Aid  for  Colleges,  first  Tuesday 
afternoon  ;  Foreign  Missions,  first  Wednesday  morn- 
ing ;  Publication  and  Sabbath  School  Work,  first  Wed- 
nesday afternoon  ;  Church  Erection,  Second  Thursday 
afternoon,  and  Temperance,  Second  Friday  afternoon. 
In  addition  to  this  mass  meetings  are  held  in  the  evening 
of  the  following  days  for  the  following  subjects  :  First 
Friday  evening,  Sabbath  School  Work  ;  First  Monday 
evening,  Freedmen  ;  First  Tuesday  evening,  Home 
Missions  ;  First  Wednesday  evening,  Foreign  Missions. 
Systematic  Benevolence,  Second  Thursday  evening,  and 
Temperance,  Second  Friday  evening.  To  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  without  personal  ex- 
pense is  now  the  privilege  of  every  minister  or  elder  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  only  question  is,  will  his 
Presbytery  elect  him  ?  No  man  whose  heart  is  full  of 
the  love  of  the  kingdom,  and  loyal  to   the  Presbyterian 


252  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Church,  can  atttend  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  see  six  hundred  such  men  gathered  together  to  hear 
these  reports  from  the  center  of  the  Church  and  from 
every  mission  station  of  her  wide-extended  boundaries, 
and  not  go  home  to  be  himself  a  center  of  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  in  his  own  Church  and  Presbytery. 

In  the  line  of  her  missionary  enthusiasm  for  Home 
Missions,  for  several  years  successive  Assemblies  have 
planned  to  have  a  meeting  of  the  Assembly  on  the  Pa- 
cific Coast.  The  business  could  be  no  better  done  there 
than  elsewhere  ;  but  it  would  be  an  expression  of  sym- 
pathy for  the  Home  Mission  work  and  an  influence 
broadening  the  mind  of  the  Church  to  grasp  the  extent 
of  her  field.  This  would  be  of  great  value.  The  eco- 
nomical administration  of  the  Church  funds  by  the  treas- 
urer of  the  General  Assembly,  Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts, 
D.  D.,  has,  for  several  years,  left  an  increasing  balance  to 
the  credit  of  the  mileage  fund  to  meet  that  future  larger 
expense  which  would  be  involved  in  a  meeting  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  So  the  General  Assembly  at  Detroit,  in 
1891,  voted  that  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  1892 
should  be  at  Portland,  Ore.  In  1877  Rev.  James  Eells, 
D.  D.,  of  the  Presbytery  of  San  Francisco,  had  been 
elected  to  the  Moderatorship  of  the  Assembly  as  an  ex- 
pression of  this  same  interest  in  the  fields  of  our  West- 
ern Coast,  as  well  as  an  expression  of  the  high  regard 
which  the  Assembly  had  for  him  personally.  Others 
from  the  home  field  and  several  foreign  missionaries  had 
been  elected  to  the  Moderatorship  in  the  same  way. 
Now  the  Assembly  was  to  show  its  interest  in  the 
furthest  West  by  a  willingness  to  endure  the  fatigue  of 
a  long  journey,  and  the  Church  was  to  show  its  inter- 
est by  a  readiness  to  bear  the  expenses  of  such  a  meet- 


READJUSTMENTS   CONSTANTLY   NECESSITATED.  253 

ing.  The  Church  is  able  financially  to  meet  the  tasks 
set  for  it  by  the  impulses  of  its  missionary  enthusiasm  ; 
and  the  meeting  at  Portland  is  a  notable  event  in  the 
history  of  the  denomination,  showing  that  the  whole 
territory  of  the  United  States  is  ecclesiastically  one 
country,  and  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  ready  to  hold  its  meetings  wherever  the  gath- 
ering of  that  meeting  will  do  the  cause  most  good  and 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  the  most  honor. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

EDUCATION,    COLLEGES    AND    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARIES. 

IT  may  be  somewhat  difficult  to  prove  from  Scripture 
that  there  is  an  inspired  requirement  for  an  edu- 
cated ministry.  But  experience  confirms  what  is  at 
least  suggested  by  Scripture  passages  and  examples. 
The  human  founder  of  the  Old  Testament  economy 
was  an  adopted  child,  providentially  sent  to  the  best 
universities  of  Egypt,  and  supported,  at  public  expense, 
by  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Egyptian  govern- 
ment. Woman's  co-operation  in  church  enterprises  is 
at  least  a  fact  in  the  assistance  Pharaoh's  daughter 
gave  to  the  collegiate  education  of  Moses.  Solomon's 
wisdom  is  proverbial.  Daniel  was  a  graduate  of  the 
most  learned  institution  of  Babylon.  Paul,  after  finish- 
ing the  regular  course  at  Tarsus,  took  a  post-graduate 
course  at  Jerusalem,  and  his  inspired  instruction  to  his 
favorite  pupil  was  directly  in  this  line  :  "  The  things 
which  thou  hast  heard  of  me  among  many  witnesses, 
the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be 
able  to  teach  others  also."  (II  Timothy  2  :  2.)  Here 
is  the  requirement  of  natural  talent,  ability  to  teach  and 
doctrinal  faithfulness. 

Many  denominations  have  made  their  boast  that 
their  ministry  was  not  a  college-bred  ministry.  Many 
preachers  have  thanked  God  that  they  had  never  been 
influenced  by  a  college  or  theological  seminary.  But 
those  who  have  despised  mental  training  have  in  turn 

254 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES.  255 

been  despised  by  the  public.  Many  men,  who  have 
performed  public  church  work  without  this  preliminary 
training,  have  been  pointed  to  as  proofs  that  such 
training"  is  not  needed  ;  but  these  very  men  have  been 
the  most"  laborious  Bible  students,  and  like  Lincoln 
with  the  law,  they  have  made  up  by  hard  work  after- 
ward what  they  lacked  in  early  education.  The  de- 
nominations are  to-day,  as  a  rule,  unanimous  in  the 
conviction  that  no  training,  however  good,  can  be  use- 
less, much  less  injurious  to  ministerial  work.  Even  the 
denominations  which  are  most  conspicuous  in  the  mat- 
ter of  introducing  men  into  the  ministry  without  requir- 
ing college  training  are  now  among  the  most  earnest 
and  faithful  advocates  of  the  benefits  secured  by  such 
liberal  education.  The  number  of  their  colleges,  the 
amplitude  of  the  equipment  of  their  colleges  and  theo- 
logical seminaries,  the  exactness  of  their  religious 
works  and  the  drift  of  their  religious  press  all  show 
how  strong  the  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  thorough 
training  is  among  their  membership  and  ecclesiastical 
leaders. 

Derived  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  so  largely 
from  the  Reformed  Church  of  Western  Europe,  it 
would  be  expected  that  in  this  regard  American  Pres- 
byterian sentiment  would  be  but  the  natural  develop- 
ment of  the  policy  of  this  same  Reformed  Church. 
The  universities  of  Germany,  France  and  Britain,  and 
the  theological  instruction  of  the  various  leading  men 
inside  and  outside  of  their  theological  institutions,  have 
been  repeated  on  this  side  of  the  water.  To  a  very 
large  extent  the  earliest  ministers  of  this  country  were 
themselves  college  graduates.  Denton  was  a  graduate 
of  Cambridge  ;   Makemie  studied  at  one  of  the  Scotch 


256  PRESBYTERIANS. 

universities,  and  Andrews  graduated  at  Harvard. 
Harvard  itself  was  founded  by  the  same  spirit.  The 
New  England  Puritans  had  only  been  landed  sixteen 
years  when  that  institution  was  founded.  By  1642  its 
first  class  of  nine  members  graduated.  This  was  with- 
in twenty-two  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Mayflower. 
Yale  College  came  in  1701  ;  William  and  Mary  College 
in  Virginia  had  been  incorporated  by  the  Colonial 
Assembly  as  early  as  1660,  although  it  did  not  get  into 
operation  until  about  1692.  By  the  end  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  there  were  in  this  country  at  least  thir- 
teen colleges  ;  namely,  Harvard,  William  and  Mary, 
Yale,  Princeton,  Columbia,  Brown,  Dartmouth,  Rut- 
gers, Hampden-Sidney,  Dickinson,  Washington  (now 
Washington  and  Lee  University),  and  Greenville. 
Four  of  these,  Princeton,  Hampden-Sidney,  Dickinson 
and  Greenville  were  and  (except  Dickinson)  still  are 
Presbyterian. 

But  even  small  colleges  demand  so  much  money 
that  either  some  one  large  donation,  or  a  considerable 
combination  of  gifts  by  the  friends  of  education,  must 
be  on  hand  for  their  establishment.  It  is  otherwise  with 
academies  ;  and  in  the  early  Church  these  academies, 
established  and  taught  in  their  own  homes,  were  quite 
common  among  the  pastors.  No  complete  list  of  them 
can  be  eiven,  but  it  is  at  least  certain  that  Tennent  had 
his  "  log  college  "  at  Neshaminy,  and  academies  doing 
quite  a  good  work  were  in  existence  under  the  care 
of  Finley,  at  Nottingham  ;  Evans,  at  Pencader,  and 
Andrews,  at  Philadelphia.  Others,  which  were  more  of 
public  enterprises,  were  extant  at  New  London,  Faggs 
Manor,  and  Pequa,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  Timber  Ridge 
Meeting   House,   in  Virginia,  and  some  were  in  North 


EDUCATION,   COLLEGES    AND    SEMINARIES.  257 

and  South  Carolina.  Terinent's  log  college  in  the  East, 
and  McMillan's  log  academy  in  the  Western  part  of 
Pennsylvania,  are  typical  illustrations  of  these  schools. 
No  picture  of  Tennent's  college  is  preserved,  and  the 
only  description  of  it  is  taken  from  Whitefield's  diary. 
He  visited  old  Mr.  Tennent  in  1739.  In  his  diary 
\\  nitefield  says  :  '  The  place  wherein  the  young  men 
study  now  is  in  contempt  called  'the  College.'  It  is  a 
log  house  about  twenty  feet  long  and  nearly  as  many 
broad  ;  and  to  me  it  seemed  to  resemble  the  school  of 
the  old  prophets,  for  their  habitations  were  mean,  and 
that  they  sought  not  great  things  for  themselves  is 
plain  from  the  passages  of  Scripture  wherein  we  are 
told  that  each  of  them  took  them  a  beam  to  build  them 
a  house ;  and  that  at  the  feast  of  the  sons  of  the 
prophets  one  of  them  put  on  the  pot  whilst  the  others 
went  to  fetch  some  herbs  out  of  the  field.  All  that  we 
can  say  of  most  of  our  universities  is  they  are  glorious 
without.  From  this  despised  place  seven  or  eight 
worthy  ministers  of  Jesus  have  lately  been  sent  forth. 
More  are  almost  ready  to  be  sent,  and  the  foundation 
is  now  laying  for  the  instruction  of  many  others." 
This  extract  from  Whitefield's  journal  was  printed 
the  year  of  his  visit  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  in  Phila- 
delphia. McMillan's  log  academy,  of  which  a  picture 
is  given  (p.  91),  was  still  standing  in  1890,  having  been 
torn  down  and  rebuilt  that  the  rotten  logs  might  be 
replaced  by  new  ones.  Of  one  of  the  Western  Penn- 
sylvania academies  it  is  recorded  that,  in  his  zeal  for  a 
school,  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  of  Buffalo,  who  had  added  a 
kitchen  to  his  humble  dwelling,  asked  his  wife  whether 
she  would  not  give  up  that  kitchen  to  be  used  for  the 
academy,  and  continue  to  use  the  old  limited  quarters 


258  PRESBYTERIANS. 

as  a  kitchen.  Like  a  Christian  woman  she  cordially 
acquiesced  in  the  plan.  This  must  have  been  as  early 
as  1783-84.  Out  of  McMillan's  log  academy  in  West- 
ern Pennsylvania  grew  Washington  and  Jefferson 
College,  as  out  of  Mr.  Tennent's  log  college  at  Nesh- 
aminy,  grew  Princeton  College  ;  and  out  of  the  school 
at  Timber  Ridge  Meeting  House  grew,  first,  Liberty 
Hall,  Augusta,  then  Washington  College,  at  Lexington, 
which  is  now  Washington  and  Lee  University,  Virginia. 
The  history  of  early  Presbyterian  education  is  sub- 
stantially the  history  of  Princeton  College.  When  Mr. 
Tennent  died  in  1745  his  school  was  closed.  Yet  such 
had  been  its  usefulness  that  the  Synod  of  New  York 
immediately,  in  1 746,  took  steps  to  perpetuate  that 
institution  of  learning.  It  was  located  first  at  Eliza- 
bethtown,  N.  J.,  and  Jonathan  Dickinson  was  its  first 
president.  The  students,  except  those  of  the  village, 
boarded  in  the  family  of  the  president.  Dr.  Dick- 
inson died  shortly,  and  the  school  was  removed  to 
Newark  in  order  to  be  placed  under  the  care  of  Rev. 
Aaron  Burr,  so  that  he  might  accept  the  presidency  with- 
out resigning  his  pastorate.  The  first  class  of  six  young 
men  graduated  November  9,  1748.  In  1753  Rev. 
Gilbert  Tennent  and  Rev.  Samuel  Davies  were  ap- 
pointed by  Synod  to  visit  England  and  solicit  aid  for 
the  college.  In  the  face  of  very  great  prejudices 
against  them  and  the  theology  which  they  represented, 
after  a  year's  canvass  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
they  had  secured  widespread  sympathy  and  public 
indorsement  of  the  enterprise.  They  succeeded,  finan- 
cially, far  beyond  their  expectation.  The  total  sum 
raised  must  have  approached,  if  it  did  not  pass  beyond, 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 


260  PRESBYTERIANS. 

By  this  time  it  was  obvious  that  a  permanent  loca- 
tion must  be  selected.  Neither  of  the  places  where 
the  institution  had  formerly  been  located  showed  as 
high  an  appreciation  of  it  as  they  would  now.  The 
inhabitants  of  Princeton  "offered  two  hundred  acres 
of  wood  land,  ten  acres  of  cleared  land,  and  one  thou- 
sand pounds  'proclamation  money."1  In  i  753  this  offer 
was  accepted  and  the  institution  permanently  located. 
In  honor  of  William,  Prince  of  "Orange  and  Nassau," 
the  first  building  was  called  Nassau  Hall.  Mr.  Burr 
died  in  1756,  and  Jonathan  Edwards,  his  father-in-law, 
was  elected  his  successor.  President  Edwards  died  of 
smallpox  in  March,  1758,  and  Samuel  Davies,  of  Vir- 
ginia, who  had  visited  England  soliciting  funds,  was 
elected  president.  He  died  in  1761,  and  that  year 
Samuel  Finley  was  elected,  but  died  in  1766.  While 
Tennent  and  Davies  were  in  England  they  came  across 
a  publication  entitled  "  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,  or 
the  Arcana  of  Church  Polity."  Davies  described  it  as 
"  anonymous,  but  as  attributed  to  one  Wetherspoon, 
a  young  minister,"  and  added,  "it  is  a  burlesque  upon 
the  high-flyers  under  the  name  of  the  Moderate  Men, 
and  I  think  the  humor  is  not  inferior  to  Dean  Swift." 
The  author  of  the  pamphlet  was  Rev.  John  Wither- 
spoon,  and  on  the  death  of  Finley  an  earnest  effort 
was  made  to  secure  his  acceptance  of  the  presidency. 
It  is  said  that  he  first  declined  it,  owing  to  the  opposi- 
tion of  his  wife  to  coming  to  America.  Further  cor- 
respondence, and  possibly  changes  in  the  state  of  affairs 
in  Scotland,  as  well  as  in  America,  changed  the  views  of 
the  good  woman,  and  increased  the  motives  urging  her 
husband  to  move  to  the  New  World.  In  1768  he  was 
inaugurated  president.      This  position  he  held  until  his 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES.  261 

death  in  1794.  Until  1771  the  faculty  of  the  college 
consisted  of  only  the  president  and  two  or  three  tutors. 
From  1 77 1  there  was  an  additional  professor,  and 
much  of  the  time  the  president  was  expected  to  act  as 
professor  of  theology  for  the  Church  at  large.  After 
1808  the  number  of  professors  was,  however,  reduced 
to  one.  From  1813  until  1827  there  were  only  two.  It 
was  not  until  after  1869  that  the  faculty  ever  reached 
more  than  eight  professors,  with  some  additional  lec- 
turers. For  the  whole  first  century  of  its  history, 
therefore,  the  institution  did  its  great  work  for  the 
Church  in  the  midst  of  extreme  poverty.  It  is  said  that 
a  Harvard  professor  recently  expressed  a  wish  that 
their  modern  graduates  would  approximate  surpassing 
their  earlier  graduates  as  much  as  the  institution's 
modern  wealth  surpassed  its  earlier  poverty.  Alas ! 
that  increase  of  wealth  for  institutions  of  learning 
cannot  proportionately  increase  the  usefulness  of  the 
men  who  are  trained. 

William  and  Mary  College,  and  other  early  and  later 
projected  educational  enterprises,  were  almost  extin- 
guished in  poverty  by  the  recent  war.  Many  of  the 
academies,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  and  others 
of  which  no  mention  has  been  made,  had  as  line  op- 
portunities for  usefulness  as  any  of  the  institutions 
which  grew  out  of  the  schools  of  Tennent  or  Graham 
or  Smith  or  McMillan.  But  the  spirit  of  the  Church, 
and  the  success  of  its  few  schools,  kept  up  good  heart 
in  all  its  history.  Despite  numerous  failures  in  pro- 
jected institutions.  Kiddle  &  Schem's  "Cyclopedia  of 
Education,"  in  its  article  on  Presbyterians,  contains  this 
just  remark  :  "No  Church  in  Europe  has  taken  more 
prompt  and  energetic   steps  for   the  diffusion  of   school 


262  PRESBYTERIANS. 

education  than  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland.  The 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States,  from  the 
earliest  period,  has  been  an  earnest  worker,  and  the 
strenuous  advocate  for  education,  and  insisted  on 
higher  qualifications  for  its  ministers."  This  is  accom- 
panied by  a  full  and  very  commendatory  statement  of 
the  educational  work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
North,  the  Presbyterian  Church  South,  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  and  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  Although  these  statistics  only  come  down 
to  1876,  yet,  for  these  four  denominations  up  to  that 
time,  he  gives  a  list  of  forty-one  colleges  and  twenty 
theological  seminaries. 

As  sketches  are  given  in  this  work  of  the  duties  and 
successes  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  the  Board  of 
Aid  for  Colleges  and  Academies,  details  need  not  be 
inserted  here.  The  Church  has  never  given  much 
attention  to  professional  education  outside  of  theologi- 
cal seminaries.  Some  of  the  medical  colleges  have  a 
legal,  though  generally  only  a  formal  connection,  with 
Presbyterian  institutions.  Jefferson  College,  Philadel- 
phia, was  once  a  part  of  Jefferson  College,  Canons- 
bursf,  as  Washington  Medical  College,  Baltimore,  was 
part  of  Washington  College,  Pennsylvania.  It  is  some- 
times supposed  that  any  denominational  attempt  at  pro- 
fessional education  is  more  ornamental  than  efficient  ; 
but  it  is  continually  becoming  more  and  more  obvious 
to  the  public  mind  that  moral  questions  are  seriously 
affected  by  the  moral  philosophy  and  political  theories 
which  are  taught  in  law  schools,  and  that  materialism 
and  skepticism  have  no  more  efficient  promoters  than 
infidel  professors  in  medical  colleges.  If  a  physician 
is  not  well   able  to  deal  with   a  disease  who  denies  the 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND   SEMINARIES.  263 

existence  of  malaria,  when  his  patient's  sicknesses  are 
seriously  complicated  with  that  trouble,  neither  is  a 
physician,  who  denies  the  existence  of  the  soul  and  of 
man's  moral  character,  well  fitted  to  cure  the  ills  of  his 
body,  if  nervous  prostration  is  brought  on  by  remorse 
of  conscience. 

On  p.  256  there  is  given  a  list  of  the  colleges 
which  were  in  efficient  operation  at  the  opening  of  this 
century;  and  on  p.  170  a  list  of  the  Presbyterian 
colleges  established  from  181 5  to  1835.  The  colleges 
organized  by  Presbyterians  in  the  first  fifteen  years  of 
the  present  century  were  not  numerous,  and  were  on 
the  line  of  the  emigration  westward  from  the  Atlantic 
Coast.  One  pathway  was  from  the  Carolinas  and  Vir- 
ginia through  the  Eastern  end  of  Tennessee  to  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  Here  Greenville  College  had  been 
established  in  1 794,  but  the  difficulties  of  migrating 
through  the  mountains,  and  the  increased  facilities  for 
traveling  to  the  northward  and  the  southward  of  Ten- 
nessee left  the  progress  of  this  institution  slow  and 
difficult.  The  next  great  pathway  was  from  Virginia, 
Delaware,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  by  the  way 
of  the  Cumberland  and  Shenandoah  Valleys  to  the 
upper  Ohio  River  and  its  tributaries.  On  this  route 
the  early  Presbyterians  had  instituted  their  academies 
almost  at  their  first  settlement.  Dickinson  College 
was  established  by  Presbyterians  at  Carlisle  in  1783. 
In  the  Ohio  Valley  in  1802  "McMillan's  Log  Acad- 
emy" was  chartered  as  Jefferson  College  at  Canons- 
burg,  and  in  1806  Washington  College  was  incorpo- 
rated at  Washington,  Pa.  From  the  first  organization 
of  these  institutions  and  since  their  union  they  have 
been  prolific  sources  for  the  supply  of  ministers.       The 


264  PRESBYTERIANS. 

total  number  of  the  alumni  up  to  the  present  time  is 
3603,  of  whom  1575  entered  the  ministry.  The  North- 
ern pathway  of  the  Western  migration  was  from  New 
England  and  New  York  through  Western  New  York 
to  the  Lake  region.  On  this  route,  in  1812,  Presby- 
terians established  Hamilton  College  at  Clinton, 
N.  Y. ;  and  its  ministerial  graduates  made  a  demand 
for  a  theological  seminary  and  guaranteed  a  supply  of 
students.  Hence  sprang  Auburn  Seminary.  The  ex- 
cellent work  done  by  Prof.  Peters  at  the  observatory 
of  Hamilton  College,  in  the  discovery  of  asteroids  and 
fixed  stars,  has  made  the  institution  famous  amono-  the 
learned  everywhere.  During  the  presidency  of  Dr. 
Nott,  from  1804  to  1866,  as  well  as  under  his  prede- 
cessors, Union  College  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  was  al- 
most as  thoroughly  Presbyterian  as  Hamilton  College. 
Presbyterians  have  been  enthusiastic  in  helping  through 
their  early  weakness  colleges  which  are  now  either  inde- 
pendent of  any  denominational  affiliation,  dominated  by 
some  other  branch  of  evangelical  Christendom,  or  per- 
vaded by  a  thoroughly  unreligious  spirit.  Dickinson 
College  at  Carlisle  was  founded  by  Presbyterians,  but 
since  1833  lt  nas  been  under  control  of  the  Methodists. 
In  its  early  history  Transylvania  University,  Ky., 
was  Presbyterian,  but  was  perverted  to  skeptical  influ- 
ences. These  failed  in  its  management,  and  it  is  now  a 
State  institution  with  affiliations  with  another  evangel- 
istic denomination.  Western  Reserve  Collegeat  Hud- 
son, O.,  was  under  New  School  Presbyterian  control 
until  it  was  removed  to  Cleveland  and  became  part  of 
Adelbert  University.  The  institution  is  now  evangel- 
istic, but  in  no  sense  denominational.  Of  the  efficient 
Presbyterian    institutions    these    facts  are  interesting : 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES.  265 

Lafayette  College  introduced,  under  Prof.  F.  A. 
March,  the  study  of  Anglo-Saxon  into  college  curricu- 
lums.  Both  it  and  Princeton  have  largely  endowed 
scientific  departments.  Wooster  University  has  an 
effective  medical  department  at  Cleveland.  Lake 
Forest  University  has  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago, 
as  its  medical  department,  and  Chicago  College  of  Law 
as  its  law  department.  Southwestern  University,  Clarks- 
ville,  Tenn.,  and  Central  University  at  Richmond,  Ky., 
under  the  Southern  Church,  and  Cumberland  Uni- 
versity, at  Lebanon.  Tenn.,  of  the  Cumberland  Church, 
have  theological  departments.  Park  College  at  Park- 
ville,  Mo.,  has  more  success  in  combining  self-support 
by  manual  labor  with  the  college  course  of  study  than 
perhaps  any  other  institution. 

The  following  statistics  from  the  last  Report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  at  Washington,  D.  C,  ex- 
hibits the  present  financial  state  of  Presbyterian  col- 
leges. All  of  them  in  their  early  history  have  had  to 
struggle  through  poverty.  Dr.  Porter,  in  his  work  on 
"American  Colleges  and  the  American  Public"  says  : 
"  Most  colleges  have  originated  in  the  most  thankless 
and  self-sacrificing  services.  To  services  of  this  kind 
clergymen  are  consecrated  by  the  vows  and  the  spirit 
of  their  profession.  Then  the  profession  of  teaching 
is  akin  to  that  of  the  clergyman  in  the  smallness  of  its 
pay  and  the  unselfish  patience  which  it  involves." 
When  salaries  are  small  ministers  eke  out  a  subsistence 
by  preaching  to  some  weak  church  on  Sabbaths.  This 
labor,  self-denial  and  disinterested  toil,  which  have  been 
required  to  la)-  the  foundations  and  rear  the  super- 
structure of  the  most  successful  colleges  of  this  country, 
cannot  be  easily  overestimated.      There  is  not  a  rich  col- 


266 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


lege  in  this  list  which  has  not  been  carried  through  just 
such  a  struggle  by  the  underpaid  labor  of  such  clergymen 
professors.  Until  a  college  has  assets  in  real  estate 
and  endowments  amounting  to  $100,000,  its  mainte- 
nance is  a  struggle  for  life.  When  its  income-bearing 
endowment  reaches  $100,000,  or  more,  it  is  able,  by 
good  management,  to  pay  the  essential  expenses  of  a 
classical  course.  Thereafter  it  is  a  matter  of  enlarge- 
ment by  the  donations  of  its  friends. 

Knox  College,  Olivet  and  Marietta  are  also  sup- 
ported and  patronized  by  the  Congregationalists. 
Alma  College,  Alma,  Mich.,  Missouri  Valley  College, 
Marshall,  Mo.,  Daniel  Baker  College,  Brownwood. 
Tex.,  and  Whitworth  College,  Sumner,  Wash.,  are 
known  to  be  at  work,  but  are  not  entered  in  the  Com- 
missioner's Report.  W^aynesburg  College,  Pa.,  and 
Blackburn  University,  111.,  are  older,  but  are  also  absent 
from  the  Report.  The  order  is  that  of  the  Commis- 
sioner's Report,  namely,  by  the  alphabetical  order  of 
the  States  wherein  the  institutions  are  located.  The 
figures  for  some  of  these  last  have  been  secured  by 
persistent  correspondence.  When  the  second  column  is 
blank  the  institution  has  no  endowment  and  is  supported 
by  tuition  fees.  The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Education 
at  Washington  is  usually  three  years  behind  time,  though 
now  just  out  (1892)  its   figures  are  those  of  1889. 


WHEN 
FOUNDED. 

COLLEGE    NAME. 

ESTIMATED 
REAL   ESTATE 

PRODUCTIVE 
ENDOWMENT. 

1872. 

1852. 
1883. 
1883. 
[  S4  I  . 
I876. 

Arkansas  College,  Ark.  (S.  P.) 

Cane  Hill   College,  Ark.  (C.  P.) 

Del  Norte  College,  Col 

$15,000 

8,000 

30,000 

40,000 

156,700 

425,000 

$6,000 

Knox  College,  111 

Lake  Forest  University,  111 

204,l8l 
803,000 

EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES. 


267 


WHEN 
FOUNDED. 


COLLEGE  NAME. 


[866.  Lincoln  University,  III.  (C.  P.) 

[856.  Monmouth    College,    111.  (U.    P.) 

[833.  Wabash    College,   Ind 

[828.  Hanover    College,  Ind 

1.  Coe  College,  la 

[875.  Parsons  College,  la 

[859.  Lenox  College,  la 

[883.  Emporia  College,  Kan 

[857.  Highland  University,  Kan 

17.  Cooper  Memorial  College,  Kan.  (U.  P.) 

[821.  Centre  College,  Ky 

[874.  Central  University,  Ky.    (S.  P.) 

[887.  Alma  College,  Mich 

[859.  Olivet  College,  Mich 

[885.  Macalaster  College,  Minn 

[832.  Westminster   College,  Mo.   (S.  P.) 

[879.  Park   College,  Mo 

14.  Tarkio   College,  Mo.   (U.  P.) 

18.  Missouri  Valley  College,  Mo.  (C.  P.) 

[883.  College  of  Montana,   Mont 

[883.  Bellevue  College,  Neb 

>2.  Hastings  College,  Neb 

:746.  College  of  New  Jersey,  N.   J 

[812.  Hamilton   College,  N.  Y 

[837.  Davidson  College,  N.  C.  (S.  P.) 

[868.  Biddle  University,  N.    C..« 

[835.  Marietta  College,  O 

:825-  Franklin    College,  O.  (U.  P.) 

:837.  Muskingum  College,  O.  (U.  P.) 

[870.  University   of  Wooster,   O 

[849.  Geneva   College,  Pa.  (R.   P.) 

[832.  Lafayette  College,  Pa 

r852.  Westminster  College,  Pa.  (U.    P.) 

[802.  Washington  &  Jefferson  College,  Pa. .  . 

[879.  Pies.  College  of  South  Carolina  (S.  P.) 

[869.  King  College,  Tenn.    (S.    P.) 

[842.  Cumberland  University.  Tenn.  (C.  P.). 

847.  Bethel  College,  Tenn.  (C.  P.) ;. 

[819.  Maryville  College,  Tenn 

[794.  Greeneville  &  Tusculum  College,  Tenn. 

[851.  Austin  College,  Tex.  (S.  P.)    

869.  Trinity  University,  Tex.   (C.  P.) 

[890.  Daniel  Baker  College,  Texas 

776.  Hampden-Sidney  College,    Va.   (S.  P.) . 

[859.  Gale  College,  Wis , 


ESTIMATfD 

PRODUCTIVE 

REAL  ESTATE 

ENDOWMENT. 

30,000 

3^725 

56,000 

105,000 

175,000 

240,000 

100,000 

175,000 

60,000 

70,000 

65,000 

45,000 

14,000 

IO,I94 

98,000 

25,000 

l6,000 

2  1,600 

40,000 

7,500 

70,000 

246,899 

100,000 

175,000 

57,000 

8l,000 

108,000 

l66,500 

I75,°35 

80,000 

35'090 

78,000 

252,200 

69,900 

35,000 

30,000 

160,000 

I  10,000 

100,000 

10,000 

100,000 

14,000 

60,000 

15,000 

240,000 

284,123 

100,000 

108,000 

75,000 

10,000 

90,000 

14,000 

15,000 

35>00° 

120,000 

201,000 

75,000 

100,000 

600,000 

272,303 

10,000 

135,000 

150,000 

250,000 

20,000 

5,000 

25,000 

22,000 

40,000 

70,000 

15,000 

50,000 

1 10,000 

18,650 

25,000 

16,000 

40,000 

29,500 

42,000 

100,000 

1 15,000 

35.°00 

PRESBYTERIANS. 


With  reference  to  female  education  two  plans  are 
employed  by  Presbyterians,  and  through  them  as  good 
an  education  is  offered  to  young  women  as  to  young 
men.  Of  the  colleges  open  only  to  women,  and  mod- 
eled after  Wellesley  and  Vassar,  there  are  controlled 
by  the  Presbyterians,  Wells  College,  Aurora,  N.  Y.; 
Pennsylvania  College,  Pittsburg,  Pa.;  Elmira  College, 
Elmira,  N.  Y. ;  Lindenwood  College,  St.  Charles,  Mo.; 
Wilson  College,  Chambersburg,  Pa.;  Coates  College, 
Terre  Haute,  Ind.;  Albert  Lea  College,  Albert  Lea. 
Minn,  and  Oswego  College,  Oswego,  Kan.  A  large 
number  of  the  State  universities,  especially  in  the 
newer  States,  are  equally  open  to  men  and  women. 
The  following  Presbyterian  colleges  make  no  distinc- 
tion of  sex  in  their  admission  of  students  : 

Arkansas  College,  Cane  Hill  College,  Presbyterian 
College  of  the  Southwest,  Pierre  University,  Knox 
College,  Lake  Forest  University,  Lincoln  University 
(111.),  Monmouth  College,  Hanover  College,  Parsons 
College,  Lenox  College,  College  of  Emporia,  Highland 
University,  Cooper  Memorial  College,  Olivet  College, 
Tarkio  College,  College  of  Montana,  Bellevue  College, 
Franklin  College,  Muskingum  College,  University  of 
Wooster,  Geneva  College,  Waynesburg  College,  West- 
minster College,  (Pa.),  Presbyterian  College  of  South 
Carolina,  Cumberland  University,  Bethel  College, 
Maryville  College,  Greeneville  and  Tusculum  College, 
Trinity  University  and  Gale  College. 

The  following  institutions  are  for  women  only. 
Where  the  post-office  name  appears  in  the  name  it  is 
not  repeated  to  indicate  location.  Where  the  name 
does   not  show  the   location,   the  town,  as  well   as   the 


State,  is  given 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND   SEMINARIES. 


269 


Huntsville  Female  Seminary,  Alabama;  Caldwell 
College,  Danville,  Ky. ;  Sayre  Female  Institute;,  Lex- 
ington, Ky. ;  Stuart  Female  College,  Shelby ville,  Ky.; 
Silliman  Female  Collegiate  Institute,  Clinton,  La.; 
Michigan  Female  Seminary,  Kalamazoo,  Mich.;  Union 
Female  College,  Oxford,  Miss.;  Fulton  Synodical 
Female  College,  Fulton,  Mo.;  Kansas  City  Ladies' 
College,   Independence,  Mo.;     Elizabeth   Anil    Female 


HOUGHTON    SKM1NARY    (FEMALE),    CLINTON,    N.    Y. 


Seminary,  Lexington,  Mo.;  Charlotte  Female  Institute, 
North  Carolina  ;  Oxford  Female  Seminary,  North  Car- 
olina ;  Peace  Institute,  Raleigh,  N.  C;  Glendale 
Female  College,  Ohio  ;  Granville  Female  College, 
Ohio  ;  Oxford  Female  College,  Ohio  ;  Houghton 
Seminary,  Clinton,  N.  Y.;  Blairsville  Ladies'  Seminary, 
Pennsylvania  ;  Washington  Female  Seminary,  Penn- 
sylvania;  Synodical  Female  College,  Rogersville, 
Tenn.;  Stonewall  Jackson  Female  Institute,  Abingdon, 
Va.;  Montgomery  Female  College,  Christiansburg, 
Va. ;  Augusta   Female  Seminary,  Staunton,  Va. 

The  foregoing  statistics  do   not,  in  the  estimation   of 


27O  PRESBYTERIANS. 

many  public  writers,  fairly  represent  the  proportionate 
influence  of  the  Presbyterian  denominations  in  these 
matters  of  public  culture  and  education.  The  combined 
ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  denominations  amounts  to 
about  ten  thousand,  the  number  of  churches  to,  perhaps, 
one-fourth  more,  and  the  total  membership  to  approxi- 
mately twelve  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  In  any 
form  of  effort  to  promote  general  education,  higher  in- 
struction and  thoroughness  in  intellectual  discipline, 
these  ministers,  churches  and  church  members,  together 
with  their  adherents,  carry  far  more  than  their  share  of 
the  weight  of  the  burdens,  do  far  more  than  their  share 
of  the  public  work  of  supervision,  and  contribute  far 
more  than  their  proportion  of  the  means  necessary  to 
promote  the  high  state  of  popular  culture  reached  by 
the  better  classes  and  the  general  public  in  this  land. 

THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARIES. 

The  forms  are  almost  innumerable  in  which  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  during  its  history,  has  striven  to  increase 
its  supply  of  ministers.  It  seems  almost  impossible 
that  there  could  be  a  suggestion  now  made  on  the  sub- 
ject which  has  not  sometime,  in  the  past  history,  been  pro- 
posed, discussed  and,  more  or  less,  experimented  upon. 
Twice  the  Church  has  been  divided,  and  both  in  1741 
(with  the  Tennents)  and  18 10  (with  the  Cumberlands) 
the  question  of  the  training  necessary  for  ministers 
occupied  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  causes  of 
division.  In  the  old  Colonial  Synod  this  was  the  heart 
of  the  controversy.  In  the  erection  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  century, 
this  question  was  again  a  matter  of  contention. 

In  the  days  of   poverty,  in  the   early  Colonial  times, 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES.  271 

young  ministers  had  to  do  as  young  lawyers  and  young 
doctors  did.  Some  admired  member  of  the  profession 
was  selected,  and  the  young  man  submitted  himself  to 
him  for  direction  in  reading,  and  such  practice  as  might 
be  possible  at  the  time  and  under  the  circumstances. 
Some  preceptors  were  better  than  other  preceptors. 
Some  ministers  had  several  young  theologians  reading 
with  them  and  missionating,  more  or  less,  at  the  same 
time.  Some  physicians  had  several  young  doctors  in 
their  offices.  With  the  ministry,  however,  as  with  the 
two  other  professions,  there  was  always  this  difficulty  : 
that  the  young  man  did  not  feel  safe  in  relying  upon 
the  instruction  of  a  preceptor  who  had  not  attained 
eminence.  Any  preceptor  who  has  attained  eminence 
is  too  busy  to  give  the  young  man  such  time  and  atten- 
tion as  is  needed  for  his  instruction.  Not  every  scholar 
and  learned  man  is  a  good  teacher.  Ability  to  teach  is 
almost  as  important  in  a  preceptor  as  great  knowledge. 
The  necessity  for  special  schools,  therefore,  of  medicine, 
and  of  law,  and  of  theology,  confronts  all  parties  for 
the  same  reason. 

Because  the  preliminary  education  needed  by  min- 
isters was  identical  with  that  needed  by  the  lawyers 
and  physicians  and  well  educated  men  generally,  acad- 
emies and  colleges  were  much  more  practicable  than 
these  professional  schools.  By  combining  into  one 
institution  all  those  expecting  to  enter  any  of  the  pro- 
fessions, a  living  patronage  for  a  college  might  be 
secured  quite  early.  Hence  academies  conducted  by 
pastors  were  frequent,  and  the  earlier  colleges  soon 
attained  enough  of  income  to  support  their  very  limited 
faculty.  At  one  time  the  project  was  suggested  and 
undertaken  of  having  each  Presbytery  appoint  from  its 


272  PRESBYTERIANS. 

own  membership  a  teacher  of  theology  to  which  its 
candidates  for  the.  ministry  should  go  for  instruction. 
But  practically  the  man  thus  selected  was  always  a  busy 
pastor ;  and  out  of  the  instruction  he  could  furnish 
young  ministers,  he  could  neither  secure  such  compen- 
sation as  would  justify  him  for  leaving  his  other  work, 
nor  by  the  aid  of  the  students  could  he  be  enabled  to 
increase  his  salary  by  enlarging  his  field  of  labor.  This 
plan,  therefore,  showed  itself  to  be  impracticable. 

The  ability  manifested  by  the  professors  of  Princeton 
College  made  young  men  anxious  to  secure  their  instruc- 
tion on  theological  subjects.  Public  opinion  approved 
of  the  suggestion  of  having  a  theological  professor  con- 
nected with  the  College.  The  College  itself  was  the 
outgrowth  of  the  anxiety  of  the  Church  to  increase  the 
number  of  its  ministers. 

The  revival  of  1800,  like  the  revival  of  1740,  under 
the  Tennents,  greatly  intensified  the  demand  for  more 
ministers.  The  problem  of  a  method  for  their  educa- 
tion was  as  urgent  as  it  was  difficult.  Public  sentiment 
was  gravitating  toward  an  institution  for  the  special 
training  of  ministers.  The  project  was  first  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1809.  The 
idea  of  establishing  a  theological  seminary  met  with 
universal  approval,  and  in  18 12  the  General  Assembly 
determined  to  establish  such  an  institution.  There 
was,  however,  by  no  means  the  same  unanimity  as  to 
the  method  to  be  pursued,  especially  in  regard  to  the 
location  and  number  of  the  institutions  to  be  established. 
Some  wanted  three  ;  one  in  the  North,  one  in  the  South, 
and  one  in  the  central  part  of  the  Atlantic  Coast.  It 
is  probable  that  financial  reasons  had  very  much 
to  do  with   the  final  decision  to  locate  the  institution 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES    AND    SEMINARIES.  2J$ 

at  Princeton.  To  secure  the  college  the  people  of 
Princeton  had  donated  two  hundred  acres  of  land. 
This  was  far  more  than  the  college  could  use  in  its  col- 
lege work.  There  was,  therefore,  plenty  of  land  to 
be  had  for  the  theological  seminary,  and  it  would  be 
an  important  advantage  to  the  seminary  to  be  within 
reach  of  the  libraries,  and  it  was  supposed  much  use 
could  be  made  out  of  the  faculty  of  the  college  for 
instruction  in  the  seminary.  The  seminary  students 
who  might  be  deficient  in  any  college  branch  could 
make  that  up  while  measurably  going  on  with  their 
theological  studies.  At  the  present  time,  when  both 
the  college  and  the  seminary  at  Princeton  are  ricli, 
and  when  the  country  is  so  rich  that  Presbyteries  in  any 
section  can,  if  their  people  are  in  self-sacrificing  earnest, 
at  once  and  sufficiently  endow  an  institution,  it  may 
appear  odd  that,  at  any  time  in  the  past,  these  institu- 
tions should  have  had  their  location  and  destiny  so 
much  affected  by  small  financial  matters. 

When  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  was  opened 
the  College  had  but  very  few  professors,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  only  felt  justified  in  risking  the  moneyed 
obligation  involved  in  electing  one,  Dr.  Alexander,  for 
the  seminary.  The  next  year,  1813,  Dr.  Miller  was 
added.  The  two  thus  elected  were  rare  men  for  the  po- 
sition, and  much  of  its  present  influence,  as  well  as  its 
early  success,  is  the  result  of  the  interior  life  given  to 
it  by  Drs.  Archibald  Alexander  and  Samuel  Miller. 
Both  left  positions  of  great  influence,  and  salaries 
which  for  the  time  were  quite  large,  to  accept  chairs  in 
this  institution,  whose  funds  were  small  and  whose  sal- 
aries were  very  limited.  They  had  the  confidence  of 
the  entire   Church.      While    they  were    teaching    in    a 


274  PRESBYTERIANS. 

theological  seminary,  busy  pastors  felt  no  need  to  take 
up  their  own  time  in  the  irregular  instruction  of  stu- 
dents. All  parties,  therefore,  were  anxious  that  this 
matter  of  education  for  the  ministry  should  be  attended 
to  at  the  theological  seminary.  Pastors  desired  it 
since  they  knew  it  was  better  done  there  than  it  could 
be  done  at  home.  Students  desired  it  because  it 
brought  them  in  contact  with  acknowledged  experts  in 
pastoral  work,  with  first-class  teachers  of  history  and 
theology  and  with  recognized  leaders  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  The  institution  opened  in  1812  with  three 
students.  There  were  fourteen  students  the  next  May. 
It  has  steadily  grown,  financially  and  every  way,  since. 
The  college  offered  to  share  with  the  seminary  the  land 
it  had  received  as  a  bonus  for  the  location.  This  was 
accompanied  with  an  agreement  that  if  the  seminary 
should  be  located  on  its  land,  the  college  would  sur- 
render the  entire  control  of  so  much  as  might  be  used. 
At  the  same  time  to  the  Assembly  and  its  trustees  of  the 
seminary,  Richard  Stockton  offered  "  four  acres  of  land 
at  the  place  proposed,  for  the  purpose  of  the  principal 
edifice  of  the  seminary  and  its  offices,  and  a  campus  in 
front  and  rear."  The  present  buildings  and  some  of 
the  professors'  houses  are  located  on  that  donation. 
The  college  trustees  were  as  well  pleased  with  that  lo- 
cation as  if  their  own  tender  had  been  accepted,  and 
every  offer  of  aid  made  by  them  was  carried  out  under 
the  modified  plan,  while  the  funds  and  real  estate  of 
the  institution  were  kept  wholly  distinct. 

Princeton  Seminary  was  thus  immediately  estab- 
lished by  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  both  its 
directors  and  professors  were  elected  by  that  body. 
But  various  Synods  were  disposed  to  attempt  the  or- 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND   SEMINARIES.  275 

ganization  of  such  institutions  within  their  own  bounds. 
The  Synod  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  in  February,  1818,  voted 
in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  seminary,  provided 
the  General  Assembly  should  approve  of  the  project. 
The  Assembly  in  May  of  that  year,  in  answer  to  similar 
suggestions  from  several  Synods,  declined  to  "give  any 
opinion  or  advice  on  the  subject,  believing  the  said 
Synods  are  the  best  judges  of  what  may  be  their  duty 
in  this  important  business."  The  first  sentiment  in  the 
Geneva  Synod  was  in  favor  of  combining  theological 
with  academical  training,  so  as  to  provide  for  a  short 
course  into  the  ministry.  This  plan  was  soon  aban- 
doned, however,  and  a  purely  theological  school  deter- 
mined upon.  Contributions  in  grounds  and  money 
were  accepted  from  the  City  of  Auburn.  A  charter 
was  granted  by  the  Legislature  in  1820,  and  the  first 
class  of  students,  eleven  in  number,  was  admitted  in 
182 1.  Recent  laro-e  contributions  from  William  E. 
Dodge  of  New  York,  Edwin  B.  Morgan  of  Aurora, 
and  others,  have  given  the  institution  handsome  re- 
sources. Its  able  and  efficient  faculty  have,  during  all 
its  history,  furnished  its  numerous  students  with  first- 
class  instruction. 

Union  Seminary,  Va.,  grew  out  of  the  work  of  Dr. 
John  H.  Rice,  and  is  now  under  the  care  of  Synods  of 
the  Southern  Church.  It  is  described  in  Dr.  Hoge's 
chapter  (p.  499).  The  Seminary  at  Columbia  is  also 
part  of  the  Southern  Church  (p.  501). 

Previous  to  1827  the  growth  of  population  west  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  the  great  success  of  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that 
region,  as  well  as  the  multiplication  of  its  colleges, 
developed  a  strong  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  theological 


276  PRESBYTERIANS. 

seminary  for  the  West.  For  several  years  eminent 
committees  had  studied  and  corresponded  with  regard 
to  the  question,  and  made  their  reports  to  succeeding 
General  Assemblies.  In  1827  it  was  determined  by 
the  Assembly  to  establish  such  an  institution  at  Alle- 
gheny. The  influence  of  Andrew  Jackson  was  active 
in  the  matter,  especially  in  reference  to  its  location. 
Its  name  was  given  it  apparently  on  the  assumption 
that  any  place  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  would 
meet  all  the  demands  of  the  West  then  present  or  in 
prospect.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  Western  theo- 
logical seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  located 
at  the  head  of  the  Ohio  River,  a  thousand  miles  east 
of  the  center  of  the  country,  and  five  hundred  miles 
east  of  the  center  of  population  in  the  United  States. 
The  seminary  has  always  been  surrounded  by  an  excel- 
lent class  of  tributary  colleges.  It  has  had,  and  still 
has,  in  its  faculty  men  unsurpassed  in  ability  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  or  in  any  other  denomination. 

About  the  same  time  as  the  founding  of  this  semi- 
nary at  Allegheny,  there  was  an  earnest  desire  for  the 
location  of  another,  more  accessible  to  the  lower  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  regions.  In  1828  Mr.  Ebenezer  Lane 
and  his  brother  offered  funds  to  the  Baptist  people  to 
found  a  seminary  at  Cincinnati.  The  way  was  not 
clear  for  them  to  undertake  the  work.  The  offer  was 
then  made  to  the  Presbyterians.  In  October,  1828,  an 
association  was  formed  "  for  establishing  a  seminary  of 
learning,  the  principal  object  of  which  shall  be  to  edu- 
cate pious  young  men  for  the  Gospel  ministry."  In 
1829  Mr.  Elnathan  Kemper  gave  the  institution  sixty 
acres  of  land  on  Walnut  Hills.  At  first  the  institution 
was  both  classical  and  theological.     The  classical  de- 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES.  277 

partment  was  maintained  until  1834,  since  which  time 
it  has  been  exclusively  a  theological  institution.  The 
theological  department  was  organized  in  1832,  with  Dr. 
Lyman  Beecher,  Professor  of  Theology,  T.  J.  Biggs, 
Professor  of  Church  History,  and  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  Pro- 
fessor of  Biblical  Literature.  The  experiment  of  such 
an  institution  on  the  manual  labor  plan  was  faithfully 
made  at  this  place.  Early  teachers  and  students  both 
attempted  physical  labor  to  reduce  expenses  without 
diminishing  studies.  Experience,  however,  has  shown 
that  ordinary  success  in  one  of  these  departments  is  at 
the  expense  of  the  best  results  of  the  other.  The 
spirit  of  the  institution  has  always  been  that  expressed 
by  Dr.  Beecher  when  he  said  :  "  To  plant  Christianity 
in  the  West  is  as  grand  an  undertaking  as  it  was  to  plant 
it  in  the  Roman  Empire,  with  unspeakably  greater  per- 
manence and  power."  It  has  faithfully  sought,  in  the 
words  of  one  of  its  leading  professors,  "  to  supply  the 
world  with  preachers  who  are  pastors." 

The  organization  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Lane 
Seminary  was  that  of  a  "close  corporation."  It.  will 
thus  be  seen  that  the  theological  seminaries  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  already  had  three  different  forms 
of  organization.  One  of  these  seminaries  was  the 
immediate  creation  of  the  General  Assembly.  The 
Assembly  appointed  the  trustees  and  elected  the  pro- 
fessors. Others  were  institutions  managed  by  certain 
Synods.  In  this  case  the  trustees  were  elected  by  the 
Synods,  and  then  the  entire  management  of  the  institu- 
tion was  under  the  care  of  these  trustees.  Sometimes 
the  Synods  appointed  visiting  committees  to  attend  the 
annual  examinations  of  the  students.  Where  a  semi- 
nary is  managed  by  a  close  corporation,   the  trustees 


278  PRESBYTERIANS. 

fill  their  own  vacancies,  and  have  the  entire  direction 
of  the  institution.  The  institution  itself  may  be  as 
thoroughly  Presbyterian  under  one  of  these  systems  of 
organization  as  under  any  other.  The  method  of 
organization  is  oftentimes  determined  by  local  circum- 
stances and  providential  indications  manifested  by  the 
history  of  the  institution.  At  the  time  of  the  reunion 
of  the  Old  and  New  School  Churches,  the  sentiment 
was  strongly  in  favor  of  a  uniform  method  for  the 
management  of  the  theological  seminaries.  In  the 
history  of  general  education  in  this  country  such  entire 
freedom  has  been  adopted  and  enjoyed,  in  the  manage- 
ment of  instruction,  that  it  is  pretty  difficult  to  confine 
all  schools  to  one  method,  or  fix  for  all  schools  a 
uniform  grade  and  course  of  study.  The  habit  of  the 
country  is  in  favor  of  entire  liberty  in  this  respect.  It 
may,  perhaps,  be  difficult  to  show  that  all  the  advan- 
tages are  in  favor  of  any  one  system,  or  all  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  any  other. 

In  1830  the  Synod  of  Indiana  proceeded  to  establish 
a  seminary  for  its  region,  and  located  it  in  connection 
with  Hanover  College  at  the  town  of  Hanover.  In 
1840  an  offer  was  accepted  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
for  its  removal  to  New  Albany,  Ind.  In  1853  the  ques- 
tion of  a  theological  seminary  for  the  West  was  brought 
prominently  before  the  Church  by  several  overtures  from 
different  places  for  the  future  site  of  the  seminary.  The 
Assembly  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Kentucky  people  and 
established  the  Danville  Seminary,  without  including  the 
removal  of  this  seminary  as  part  of  the  scheme.  This 
met  the  wants  of  the  Southwest,  but  left  the  New 
Albany  institution  in  the  hands  of  the  Synods  of  the 
Northwest,  and  with  a  diminished  field  south  of  it.     At 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND   SEMINARIES.  279 

the  Assembly  of  1859  the  Synods  which  then  controlled 
the  seminary  brought  up  the  question  of  its  future  loca- 
tion as  well  as  its  transfer  to  the  control  of  the  Assembly. 
That  Assembly  of  1859  agreed  to  accept  the  proposi- 
tion of  Hon.  C.  H.  McCormick  of  Chicago,  that,  if  this 
institution  should  be  located  at  that  place,  he  would 
give  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  endowment. 
Others  added  an  offer  of  twenty-five  acres  for  a 
site.  A  new  board  of  trustees  was  appointed  and  a 
new  faculty  was  elected.  By  action  of  the  General 
Assembly  this  institution  was  declared  to  be  the 
leeal    successor  of  the    one    at   Hanover   and  at    New 

o 

Albany,  and  the  proper  "  Alma  Mater  "  of  all  its  gradu- 
ates. Since  its  removal  to  Chicago,  Mr.  McCormick 
and  his  heirs  have  added  large  donations  to  his  original 
contribution  ;  and  in  1886  the  name  of  the  institution 
was,  by  authority  of  the  General  Assembly,  changed 
from  "  The  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest" 
to  "  McCormick  Theological  Seminary."  A  look  at 
the  map  will  indicate  the  magnificent  constituency  of 
churches  and  colleges  which  are  within  the  territory  of 
this  institution. 

As  has  been  noted,  this  discussion  of  the  interest  of 
the  New  Albany  seminary  started  the  question  of  the: 
proper  distribution  of  such  schools  over  the  country. 
The  delegates  of  the  Kentucky  Presbyteries  of  the 
Assembly  of  1853  offered  $20,000  toward  an  endow- 
ment of  $80,000  regardless  of  the  matter  of  location  ; 
but  that  if  the  seminary  should  be  located  at  Danville, 
Ky.,  an  additional  sum  of  $6o,ooo,  and  ten  acres  for  a 
site,  should  be  given  by  the  Presbyterians  of  that  State. 
Both  offers  were  accepted  by  the  Assembly,  and  a 
faculty   and  board  of   directors    elected.       Rev.     R.   J. 


2  8o  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Breckinridge  was  really  the  organizer  of  the  project,  and, 
being  elected  Professor  of  Theology,  at  the  opening 
fashioned  it  on  his  own  ideas.  The  seminary  opened  that 
autumn  most  auspiciously,  with  an  attendance  of  twenty- 
three  students.  For  a  time  all  went  well,  but  the  strife 
preceding  the  Civil  War  was  dividing  its  friends,  and, 
later,  the  organization  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church  cut  off  a  large  part  of  the  territory  on  which  it 
was  to  depend.  It  was  for  a  time  practically  closed.  It 
has  since  been  reorganized  and  is  doing  good  work.  It 
has  a  fine  site,  a  fair  endowment,  an  able  faculty,  and,  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  table  at  the  end  of  this  chapter,  a 
noble  property. 

New  York  had  early  and  always  been  the  friend  of 
educational  institutions.  A  goodly  number  of  its  minis- 
ters and  laymen  of  the  Church  had  been  leaders  in  all 
the  enterprises  of  the  Church.  In  1835  this  feeling 
culminated  in  a  scheme  to  furnish  for  the  Church  a 
school  to  train  ministers  in  the  midst  of  the  advantages 
of  a  large  city,  and  in  the  presence  of  all  kinds  of  city 
mission  work.  In  October  nine  persons — four  ministers 
and  five  laymen — met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Knowles 
Taylor,  No.  8  Bond  Street,  to  consult  about  the  proj- 
ect. The  conference  learned  of  so  many  cordial 
friends  to  the  enterprise  that  they  called  another  meet- 
ing. Encouragement  was  given  on  all  sides,  and  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  was  the  result.  It 
was  opened  the  5th  of  December  in  1836,  and  went 
into  operation  that  same  winter.  Its  first  class  was 
graduated  three  years  later  and  numbered  six,  and  its 
second,  the  next  year,  numbered  twenty-one.  Located 
in  the  metropolis  of  the  country,  and  with  men  of  na- 
tional  reputation    in   its  faculty,    it  has  always   drawn 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES. 


28l 


patronage  from  all  sections  and  from  all  denominations 
of  evangelical  Christians.  The  institution  has  from 
the  outset  been  blessed  with  large-minded  and  very 
liberal  friends,  possessors  of  large  wealth,  and  willing 
to  use  their  means  in  the  promotion  of  the  interests 
of    the   Presbyterian   Church   through  their  theological 


mm§n 


SAN    FRANCISCO    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,    SAN    FRANCISCO,    CAL. 

seminaries.  They  have  called  only  choice  men  to  their 
professorships,  and  the  field  and  the  work  have  always 
proved  exceedingly  attractive  to  the  men  who  are  in- 
vited to  their  chairs.  Since  the  reunion,  also,  very  huge 
donations  have  been  made,  both  to  its  real  estate  and 
to  its  endowment. 

As  population  on  the  Pacific  coast  increased,  the 
growth  of  the  Church  made  it  evident  that  a  theologi- 
cal seminary  was   needed  in  that  section  of  the  Church. 


282  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Such  an  institution  was  originally  projected  by  the 
Synod  of  the  Pacific,  and  in  1871  was  opened  at  San 
Francisco.  For  many  years  its  establishment  was  a 
laborious  struggle.  In  more  recent  times  it  has  been 
the  recipient  of  generous  treatment.  It  is  beginning  to 
gather  friends  among  the  large  contributors  in  that  sec- 
tion of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Ladd  of  Portland,  and 
Mr.  Alex.  Montgomery  are  among  its  large  contribu- 
tors ;  the  former  giving  to  its  endowment,  and  the 
latter  furnishing  $250,000  for  endowment  and  a  mag- 
nificent new  building.  Its  future  is  in  every  respect 
most  hopeful. 

Two  German  theological  schools  have  been  organized 
with  the  object  of  furnishing  a  German  ministry  for  the 
German  population  of  this  country.  One  is  located  at 
Dubuque,  la.,  and  the  other  at  Bloomfield,  Newark, 
N.  J.  If  it  were  desirable,  and  there  were  any  as- 
surance that  it  could  be  accomplished,  that  the  Ger- 
man population  of  America  could  perpetuate  the  Ger- 
man lanofuaoe  as  the  vernacular  of  their  children,  the 
field  for  these  German  schools  would  be  very  large  and 
very  urgent.  So  many  people,  however,  among  both 
English-speaking  and  German-speaking  Christians,  be- 
lieve that  it  is  best  for  the  people  of  this  country, 
regardless  of  their  origin,  to  have  the  English  language 
as  their  speech,  that  the  friends  of  these  institutions 
meet  with  great  difficulty  in  securing  funds  for  their 
maintenance.  Their  merit  deserves  for  them  much 
better  treatment  than  they  are  receiving  at  the  hands 
of  Presbyterians. 

The  success  of  the  work  of  the  Church  among  the 
Freedmen  early  made  it  sure  that  there  would  be  an 
imperative  demand  for  theological  seminaries  specially 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES.  283 

suited  to  the  wants  of  the  colored  people.  It  is  no 
longer  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  or  not  the  colored 
people  are  able  to  receive  as  complete  an  education  as 
the  people  of  other  races.  So  much  of  the  work,  how- 
ever, among  them  was  necessarily  at  first,  of  the  most 
primary  character  in  education  that  it  did  not  seem 
wise  to  require  four  or  five  years  at  common  school 
work,  six  or  seven  at  academic  and  collegiate  study,  and 
three  more  in  a  theological  course,  before  any  of 
their  young  men  could  be  ordained  to  work  among  their 
own  people.  The  General  Assembly  has,  therefore, 
always  favorably  regarded  the  suggestion  of  a  some- 
what shorter  course  for  their  preparation  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  This  short  course  has  always  been 
judged  proper,  and  has  been  practiced  in  exceptional 
cases  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Both  Lincoln 
University  at  Oxford,  Pa.,  and  Biddle  University  at 
Charlotte,  N.  C,  are  institutions  at  which  there  is 
furnished  to  colored  students  a  complete  college 
course.  The  graduates  of  their  theological  departments 
are  able  to  meet  any  examinations  asked  by  any 
of  the  Presbyteries,  in  any  part  of  the  country.  To 
both  of  these  institutions  liberal  gifts  have  already  been 
made,  and  liberal  gifts  are  greatly  needed  in  the  future. 
While,  therefore,  the  Assembly  did  in  1876  encourage 
Presbyteries  to  be  more  lenient  with  candidates  from 
among  the  colored  people  than  is  otherwise  common, 
great  caution  was  urged  lest  men  unworthy  as  to  morals 
should  thus  be  introduced  into  the  ministry.  On  the 
other  hand,  great  energy  has  been  put  forth  to  supply 
the  colored  people  with  educational  facilities  as  good  as 
the  best.  The  results  of  this  effort  have  been  most  en- 
couraging.   One  of  these  men,  Rev.  D.  J.  Sanders,  D.  D. 


284  PRESBYTERIANS. 

is  now  President  of  Biddle  University,  and  in  that  posi- 
tion is  showing  the  same  executive  ability  which  he  has 
done  as  editor  of  the  Africo-American  Presbyterian. 
Men  like  Dr.  Sanders  of  Biddle  and  Dr.  Grimke  of 
Washington  City  are  an  honor  to  the  Church  as  well  as 
to  their  race. 

The  last  theological  seminary  that  has  been  organ- 
ized within  the  bounds  of  the  Church  is  the  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  at  Omaha.  It  was  recognized  and  its 
erection  approved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1891. 
North,  South,  East,  and  West  of  it  is  an  admirable 
field  for  its  constituency,  with  numerous  colleges  from 
which  it  may  draw  students.  Its  friends  are  sanguine 
and  earnest,  and  the  whole  Church  will  be  greatly 
blessed  by  its  success. 

As  an  indication  of  the  profound  interest  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  feels  in  this  cause  of  theological  edu- 
cation, the  following  statement  is  eiven  of  the  amount 
of  property  held  in  real  estate,  scholarship  funds,  en- 
dowment funds  and  other  forms  by  the  various  institu- 
tions. In  many  cases  these  institutions  have  also  collegi- 
ate courses  and  the  theological  seminary  is  only  one  de- 
partment. In  this  table  is  given  the  total  amount  held 
by  the  institution  for  its  educational  work  in  all  depart- 
ments as  reported  to  the  General  Assembly.  The  or- 
ganization of  a  theological  department  by  any  institution 
is  conclusive  proof  that  the  chief  object  the  friends  have 
in  view  in  its  establishment  is  an  increase  of  educated 
ministers  and  trained  church  workers  in  all  forms  of 
evangelical  effort.  So  much  of  the  mission  work  of 
the  Foreign  Field  is  done  now  by  female  teachers, 
missionary  physicians,  lay  evangelists,  and  other  un- 
ordained    laborers    that    every    form    of   education    is 


EDUCATION,    COLLEGES   AND    SEMINARIES. 


>85 


demanded    by    the    Church     in    her    service    for    the 
Master. 


WHEN 

FOUNDED. 


lSl2 
l82  I 
l827 
IS3I 
1836 

1859 
185  1 
I87I 
iSgi 
1852 
1869 
l87I 
1868 


N  \M1 


Princeton , 

Auburn 

Western  (Allegheny). 
Lane  (Cincinnati) 
Union  (New  York) .  .  . 
Danville  (Kentucky).. 
McCormick  (Chicago) 

San  Francisco 

Omaha .  . 

Dubuque  (German) . .  . 
Newark  (German). .  . . 
Lincoln  (Freedman). . 
Biddle    (Freedman) . . 

Total  reported. . . . 


TOTAL 
VAL1    ITION. 


;i,6S7,766 
725,800 

s33>356 
49L567 

i,35°,°°° 
268,750 

1,404,648 

568>°35 

30,000 

55.94o 
86,668 

473>9°S 
ij  1,000 


1,067,438 


Of  the  above,  neither  Lane  (Cincinnati)  nor  Union 
(New  York)  report  on  "real  estate."  That  item  in 
every  case  must  be  an  estimate.  Their  real  property 
is  essential  to  such  institutions,  but  it  would  be  worth 
little  on  sale,  as  its  whole  use  must  be  changed.  The 
above  includes  all  the  property  of  institutions  connected 
with  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MISSIONS    AND    CHURCH    BOARDS. 

HUMAN  nature  in  its  unregenerate  state  asserts  its 
identity  and  unity  by  no  mark  more  definitely 
than  by  its  selfishness.  So  evangelical  Christianity 
demonstrates  its  supernatural  power  by  the  benevolence 
which  characterizes  the  true  followers,  as  they  pour  out 
their  money  by  the  million,  annually,  in  the  support  of 
missions.  By  their  gifts  Presbyterians  vindicate  their 
right  to  rank  among  the  leaders.  At  much  pains  the 
reports  have  been  collated,  and  the  following  are  the 
aggregate  amounts  which  have  gone  through  the  treas- 
uries of  the  boards  to  these  causes.  In  the  early  years 
no  reports  were  made ;  afterward  reports  were  not  full, 
and  it  is  only  in  later  years  that  they  have  been  com- 
plete.    Definite  figures  are  on  hand  for  these  totals  : 

Home  Missions $15,067,272.18 

Foreign  Missions 16,933,383.37 

Education  (since  Reunion) 1,575,634.00 

Publication  and  Sabbath  School  Work  1,370,017.50 

Church  Erection 3,674,968.00 

Ministerial  Relief 1,083,408.96 

Freedmen 1,836,026.21 

Aid  for  Colleges  and  Academies 1,206,132.00 

Total $42,746,842.22 

The  sums  above  given  were  to  be 
expended  when  given.  Beyond  these, 
however,  there  have  been  large  sums 
given  as  permanent  funds,  of  which 
the  interest  only  is  to  be  used.  These 
permanent  funds  now  amount  to 2,157,629.76 

Grand  Total $44,904,471.98 

286 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS. 


•iO/ 


In  1 83 1  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  of  Virginia,  pre- 
sented to  the  General  Assembly  his  famous  overture  on 
missions.  He  asked  the  Assembly  to  adopt  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  :  "  First,  that  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  is  a  missionary  society, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  aid  in   the  conversion  of  the 


PRKSBYTERIAN    MISSION    BUILDING,    NEW    YORK,   N.   Y. 


world  ;  and  that  every  member  of  the  Church  is  a  mem- 
ber for  life  of  said  society,  and  bound,  in  maintenance 
of  his  Christian  character,  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the 
accomplishment  of  this  object.  Second,  ministers  of 
the  gospel  in  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Church 
are  most  solemnly  required  to  present  this  subject  to 
the  members  of  their  respective  congregations,  using 
every  effort  to  make  them  feel  their  obligations  and  to 
induce  them  to  contribute  according  to  their  ability." 
In  the  preamble  to  this  resolution,  it  was  insisted  that 
"one  primary  and  principal  object  of  the  institution  of 
the  Church  by  Jesus  Christ  was,  not  so  much  the  salva- 


288  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tion  of  individual  Christians  (for  he  that  believeth  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  saved),  but  the  commun- 
icating of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  to  the  destitute  in 
efficient  and  united  efforts.  The  entire  history  of  the 
Christian  societies  organized  by  the  Apostles  affords 
abundant  evidence  that  they  so  understood  the  design 
of  their  Master."  In  the  action  on  this  overture  the 
General  Assembly  declared  their  anxiety  that  measures 
should  be  adopted  for  enlisting  the  energies  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  more  extensively  in  the  cause  of 
missions  to  the  heathen,  and  steps  were  taken  at  once 
with  that  object  in  view. 

It  is  oftentimes  supposed  that  this  overture  was  the 
first  suggestion  of  the  theory  that  the  Church  itself 
was  a  missionary  society.  Whether  the  overture  was 
the  first  instance  of  this  thought  being  formulated  into 
words  or  not,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  throughout  its 
whole  history  in  the  United  States,  had  been  acting 
upon  the  principle  animating  those  words.  At  the  sec- 
ond meeting  of  the  original  Presbytery,  held  in  Philadel- 
phia in  i  707,  a  missionary  resolution  was  adopted.  (See 
p.  70.)  In  succeeding  years,  a  very  large  portion  of 
the  time  of  the  annual  meetings  of  the  First  Presbytery 
and  of  the  Old  Synod  was  occupied  in  devising  plans 
for  missionary  work.  The  committee  to  manage  "  The 
Fund  for  Pious  Uses"  was  the  germ  of  the  modern 
boards  of  the  Church.  Every  arrangement  sought  to 
make  the  work  of  that  committee  prompt  and  efficient. 
The  churches  were  annually  urged  to  take  up  collec- 
tions in  furtherance  of  these  objects.  The  habitual 
spirit  of  Home  Missions  was  present  when  the  Synod 
in  the  year  1759  selected  three  leading  men,  Messrs. 
McWhorter,    Kirkpatrick    and    Latta,    to    go    to    the 


MISSIONS    AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  289 

destitute  places  as  itinerants,  preaching  the  gospel. 
The  effort  to  raise  up  a  ministry  to  supply  these  vacan- 
cies called  into  existence  the  work  of  the  Board  of 
Education  in  assisting-  pious  young  men  in  their  studies. 
Long  before  so  perfect  an  organization  as  a  Church 
Board  was  established,  the  Church  was  doing  the  same 
work  by  temporary  committees. 

The  only  difference  between  a  board  and  a  commit- 
tee is  in  the  amount  of  discretion  and  responsibility 
involved.  When,  under  the  influence  of  William 
Carey,  the  missionary  spirit  of  the  Church  was  revived 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  there  was  great 
division  of  sentiment  anions  Christians  as  to  the  obli- 
gations  for  missions.  Carey's  "  Inquiry  into  the  Obli- 
gations of  Christians  to  Use  Means  for  the  Conversion 
of  the  Heathen"  was  one  of  the  wonderful  publications 
which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  has  almost  revolu- 
tionized religious  thought.  His  sermon  preached  at  the 
ministers'  association  at  Nottingham,  England,  May  31, 
1  792,  on  Isaiah  54  :  2,  3,  made  a  world-wide  and  perma- 
nent impression.  Its  two  propositions  were  :  expect  great 
things  from  God,  and  attempt  great  things  for  God. 
As  a  result,  there  was  gathered  together  at  Kettering, 
in  the  year  1792,  a  company  of  Christian  people,  who 
associated  themselves  together,  October  2,  in  the  first 
missionary  society,  called  the  "  Baptist  Missionary 
Society."  Carey  was  its  first  missionary,  and  arrived 
in  India  in  1793.  Later,  voluntary  missionary  organi- 
zations appointed  certain  of  their  number  as  trustees, 
or  directors  or  executive  committees,  and  called  these 
by  the  name  of  boards  for  the  management  of  the 
work.  When,  therefore,  similar  societies  came  to  be 
organized  in  this  country,  they  adopted  that  same  name 


290  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  boards.  The  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions  was  thus  organized  in  18 10. 
This  was  the  form  of  the  religious  enterprises  of  that 
day  before  the  different  denominations  had  taken  up 
the  work  under  their  own  direction  and  control. 
When,  by  and  by,  the  General  Assembly  thought  it 
desirable  to  organize  permanent  bodies  for  the  carry- 
ing out  of  its  wishes  in  these  respects,  it  established 
the  "  Boards  of  the  Church,"  and  adopted  for  each  of 
these  boards  constitutions  defining  their  duties  and 
their  powers. 

HOME    MISSIONS. 

The  first  of  these  boards,  naturally  enough,  was  the 
Board  of  Home  Missions.  It  was  created  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1 8 1 6,  and  was  the  result  of  the  labors  of 
the  Church  through  preceding  years  in  pursuance  of  its 
early  resolution  to  "  supply  destitute  places."  The  work 
of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  and  its  resources  for 
the  accomplishment  of  that  work  at  the  beginning  of 
its  history,  were  very  small.  The  statistics  of  the  whole 
Church  for  181  7  give  only  536  ministers,  556  churches, 
with  47,568  members,  and  the  total  contributions  for 
all  purposes,  as  reported,  are  but  $9627.  The  first 
form  of  this  work  was  by  missionary  journeys  made 
by  a  pastor  himself.  The  visits  of  Makemie  and 
Hampton  to  New  York  and  Boston  were  just  such  mis- 
sionary journeys.  The  early  pastors  were  constantly 
making  them  through  the  destitute  portions  of  the 
country.  After  the  Synod  was  organized  these  mis- 
sionary journeys  were  frequently  undertaken,  and  the 
distant  portions  of  the  Church  made  application  to 
Synod  for   the  appointment  of  missionaries  to  travel 


HENRY    KENDALL,  D.  D. 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  29I 

among  them.  Thus  record  is  made  of  the  appointment 
of  Messrs.  Conn,  Orme  and  Stewart  to  make  a  visit  of 
this  kind  to  Virginia  and  Carolina.  These  brethren 
went  expressly  to  "  form  societies,  to  help  them  adjust 
their  bounds,  ordain  elders,  administer  sealing  ordi- 
nances, to  instruct  the  people  in  discipline,  and  finally 
direct  them  in  their  after  conduct,  particularly  in  what 
manner  they  shall  proceed  to  obtain  the  stated  minis- 
try." Every  year  such  appointments  as  these  were 
made  out  of  the  lists  of  the  pastors,  and  appointments 
were  made  to  supply  the  pulpits  of  these  pastors  while 
they  were  absent.  The  whole  work  of  the  Synod  was 
obviously  in  the  direction  of  reaching  vacant  places. 
Later,  from  1800  and  onward,  permanent  committees 
were  appointed  to  look  after  and  systemize  this  work. 
It  was  out  of  the  work  of  these  committees  that  finally 
the  thing  came  into  the  shape  of  a  regular  board.  The 
board  was  simply  the  committee  with  more  authority. 
The  work  of  that  board  has  a  history  equal  to  that  of 
a  romance.  In  later  times  men  were  sent  out,  with 
special  means,  "  to  explore  new  territory,  and  take  a 
look  at  the  fields  that  were  likely  to  become  permanent 
fields  of  settlement  and  usefulness  for  ministers." 
Oftentimes  candidates  for  the  ministry  were  sent  out  on 
these  missionary  tours.  The  General  Assembly  drew 
up  a  form  of  commissions,  and  adopted  a  book  of  in- 
structions which  should  be  put  into  the  hands  of  these 
young  men  when  they  went  out  upon  this  work.  These 
itinerant  ministers  were  urged  "to  avoid  political  con- 
troversies, and  confine  themselves  in  their  preaching 
mainly  to  the  great  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel." As  they  could  stay  but  a  short  time  in  any  one 
place,  they  were  urged   to  use  their   time,  to   the  very 


292  PI«SPA'TERIANS. 

highest  advantage,  in  laying  foundations  for  a  spiritual 
Church.  The  reports  made  to  the  Assembly  as  to 
these  tours,  both  by  the  missionaries  and  by  the  people 
visited,  were  of  a  most  encouraging  character,  and  gave 
the  Assembly  a  strong  appeal  to  make  to  the  Church 
for  more  funds  for  the  work.  To  read  the  earlier  and 
later  minutes,  it  would  be  supposed  that  the  manage- 
ment of  these  mission  matters  occupied  much  more  than 
one-half  the  meetings  of  the  Assembly.  The  brethren 
were  intensely  earnest  in  the  undertaking. 

From  the  first,  every  effort  was  made  to  avoid  con- 
flict with  other  denominations.  The  similarity  of  doc- 
trinal views  between  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the 
Congregational  Church  early  led  to  the  conviction  that 
this  missionary  work  ought  to  be  carried  on  by  a  single 
superintending  agency.  The  correspondence  between 
the  bodies  was  of  the  most  cordial  character.  The 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  was  the  outcome 
of  an  arrangement  for  the  consolidation  of  several 
separate  associations  engaged  in  this  frontier  work. 
As,  however,  the  funds  increased  and  the  work  grew 
in  magnitude,  it  was  found  that  many  advantages  could 
be  secured  by  each  denomination  directing  its  own  mis- 
sionaries and  expending  its  own  funds.  During  the 
period  of  the  division  between  the  Old  and  the  New 
School  branches  of  the  Church,  both  engaged  with 
great  energy  in  these  undertakings.  After  the  reunion 
in  1870,  that  missionary  spirit  was,  if  anything,  intensi- 
fied. The  work  was  managed  with  consummate  ability 
and  great  zeal.  The  men  who  entered  the  work  were 
largely  young  men,  full  of  courage  and  with  large  gifts 
in  adapting  themselves  to  new  fields.  A  study  of  their 
achievements  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS. 


293 


tains  and  in  the  Missouri  Valley  reflects  the  highest 
credit  on  their  foresight  and  practical  judgment. 
Wherever  the  physical  geography  of  the  country  indi- 
cated a  good  site  for  a  great  city,  or  the  accidental 
developments  of  business  and  trade  gave  any  growing 
town  peculiar  advantages,  the  young  missionary  was 
sure  to  be  on   hand.      Good  lots  were  selected  ;  good 


.g]jrairf>J.-&mith.   ~^; 


ASHEVILLE   COLLEGE    AND    INDUSTRIAL    INSTITUTE,   ASHEV1LLE,    N.   C. 


people  were  gathered  together  and  organized.  If  no 
house  could  be  built,  some  storeroom  or  hall  would  be 
rented  for  the  Sabbaths,  without  much  regard  to  the 
uses  to  which  it  was  put  during  the  week.  They  were 
ready  to  take  the  best  resources  at  their  command  for 
doing  their  work.  The  outcome  is  that  this  whole 
region  is  dotted  over  with  large  churches  in  the  large 
cities  and  very  efficient  churches  in  the  smaller  cities 
and  towns,  while  the  rural  districts  are  well  supplied. 
The  Kansas  band  of  nine  young  men  went  West  in 
1869.  Six  were  ordained  in  ( )ctober  of  that  year  and 
the  Synod  of  Kansas  was  the  earl)- result.  Presbyterian- 
ism    in    West    Missouri  and  in  the    State    of    Kansas 


294  PRESBYTERIANS. 

constitutes  their  monument.  No  church  nor  business 
enterprise  ever  had  better  representatives  to  push  any 
work  than  Rev.  Timothy  Hill,  D.  D.,  of  Kansas;  Rev. 
A.  T.  Norton,  D.  D.,  of  Illinois;  Rev.  Henry  Little, 
D.  D.,  of  Indiana  ;  Rev.  B.  G.  Riley  of  Wisconsin  and 
the  present  corps  of  living  Synodical  missionaries. 

The  country  has  been  reached  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  part  of  the  work  of  Home  Evangel- 
ization which  falls  to  the  lot  of  that  denomination  is 
well  in  hand.  Presbyteries  are  organized  all  over  the 
territory  of  the  United  States,  and  experienced  minis- 
ters and  elders  are  seeking  to  take  advantage  of  each 
new  opening.  The  early  exploring  missionary  pastors 
of  the  last  century  have  been  transformed  into  per- 
manent Synodical  superintendents.  These  men  are 
elected  annually  by  the  Synods,  and  their  work  consists 
in  traveling  throughout  the  entire  bounds  committed  to 
their  care.  New  openings  are  visited  and  preaching 
maintained  by  the  Synodical  missionary  for  a  season. 
When  the  people  are  ready  for  it,  churches  are  organ- 
ized by  the  authority  of  Presbytery.  Weak  churches 
are  gathered  into  groups.  The  people  are  advised  and 
helped  in  selecting  pastors  ;  and  from  the  general  funds 
gathered  by  the  board  in  New  York,  aid  is  given  to 
supplement  the  gifts  of  the  people  on  the  ground.  It 
is  obvious  that,  with  sixteen  skillful  and  practical  men 
engaged  in  this  form  of  work,  the  minimum  of  mistakes 
is  made  in  the  location  of  churches,  and  the  maximum  of 
effectiveness  is  secured  for  the  money  expended.  Large 
churches  are  urged  to  make  large  contributions,  and 
weak  churches  persuaded  to  do  their  best  to  help  them- 
selves. 

Ever  since  the  reunion  the  headquarters  of  the  Board 


MISSIONS    AND    CHURCH    HOARDS. 


295 


of  Home  Missions  has  been  in  New  York  City.  It 
consists  of  seven  ministers  and  eight  elders,  one-third 
being  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  each  year.  Its 
principal  executive  officers  are  its  Corresponding  Sec- 
retaries and  Treasurer.  The  Presbyterian  Church  has 
been  peculiarly  fortunate  in  the  men  that  have  occupied 


--v 


PRESBYTERIAN    INDUSTRIAL    INSTITUTE,    SITKA,    ALASKA. 


these  places  of  managing  leadership  in  connection  with 
its  extending  work  at  home.  The  reports  of  the  Home 
Board  for  1891  give  the  names  and  the  preaching  sta- 
tions of  1677  men  who  had  been  employed  the  preced- 
ing year.  Every  territory  is  more  or  less  fully  sup- 
plied ;  and,  betwixt  the  secretaries  and  the  Synodical 
missionaries,  a  sharp  lookout  is  kept  for  any  new  place 
which  needs  attention.  Rev.  Henry  Kendall,  I).  D., 
has  for  thirty  years  directed   this  great  work  with   the 


296  PRESBYTERIANS. 

skill  and  organizing  ability  of   the  highest  statesman- 
ship. 

No  old  methods  have  prevented  this  Home  Board 
from  modifying  its  forms  of  work,  or  adapting  its 
means  and  measures  to  each  new  want  which  may  arise. 
Closely  identified  with  it  is  the  work  of  the  Woman's 
Executive  Committee,  with  its  headquarters  in  the 
same  building  with  the  headquarters  of  the  Home 
Board.  The  demand  for  missionary  work  among  the 
Mormons,  among  the  Mexicans  and  among  the  Indians 
called  for  other  kinds  of  work  than  that  of  simply 
preaching.  As  in  the  foreign  field,  so  in  this  part  of 
the  home  field  there  was  great  need  for  educational 
work.  Women  are  quite  as  good  teachers  as  men. 
In  1884  the  General  Assembly  declared  it  to  be  the 
purpose  of  the  Church  to  call  the  work  within  the 
bounds  of  the  United  States  "  Home  Work,"  and  to 
give  to  the  Foreign  Board  the  charge  of  the  work  out- 
side  of  this  boundary.  This  has  led  to  the  constant 
transfer  from  the  Foreign  Board  to  the  Home  Board 
of  the  work  among  the  Indians.  At  the  outset  of  Pres- 
byterian  history  in  this  country,  rthis  Indian  work  was 
considered  foreign  missionary  work.  Now  that  the 
Indians,  Mexicans,  Mormons  and  Freedmen  are  all  in 
process  of  incorporation  into  the  citizenship  of  the  land, 
it  is  obvious  that  work  done  within  our  own  national 
boundaries  ought  to  be  called  home  work.  Earnest 
calls  for  schools  came  to  the  Woman's  Executive  Com- 
mittee from  the  mountain  whites  of  the  South.  The 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church  had  been  greatly  im- 
poverished by  the  war,  and  being  unable  to  do  all  that 
was  needed,  this  form  of  school  work  was  readily  ap- 
proved.     The  school  work  among  the  mountain  whites 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  297 

of  the  South  is  managed  by  the  Woman's  Executive 
Committee  of  New  York,  with  means  furnished  by  the 
women  of  the  Church.  Although  the  Woman's  Execu- 
tive Committee  was  only  completely  organized  in  1878, 
its  total  income  for  1891  amounted,  as  shown  by  its 
reports,  to  $338,846.76. 

It  is  impossible  for  any  Christian  heart  to  read  the 
pitiful  stories  of  the  pioneer  missionaries  amid  destitu- 
tion and  limited  means,  and  the  accounts  of  the  strug- 
gles of  itinerant  pastors  to  meet  the  wants  of  their  fields, 
as  these  are  shown  in  the  early  records  of  the  Church, 
and  then  turn  to  the  present  condition  of  this  "  Conti- 
nental Work,"  and  the  heart  not  be  thrilled  with  thanks- 
giving and  praise  to  God.  The  future  of  Home  Mis- 
sions can  only  be  judged  by  this  past  record.  And 
judged  in  that  light,  and  in  the  light  of  the  promises  of 
God,  we  are  furnished  with  ample  grounds  for  the  live- 
liest anticipation  of  future  growth,  efficiency  and  skill 
in  the  work  of  the  Church. 

FOREIGN      MISSIONS. 

Christians  who  had  left  Europe  for  conscience'  sake, 
that  they  might  build  up  a  country  where  they  could 
worship  God  as  the  Bible  seemed  to  them  to  direct,  might 
well  be  expected  to  be  interested  in  the  world's  conver- 
sion. Even  the  early  charters  granted  to  the  colonists 
in  this  country  by  statesmen  themselves  not  too  reli 
gious  included,  as  among  the  objects  of  the  colony,  the 
Christianization  of  the  natives.  The  commission  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  to  Raleigh  mentions  that  object.  The 
first  charter  of  Massachusetts  Colony  included  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  natives  as  a  great  design  of  the  corn- 
pan)'.      In   1643    tnc    English    Mouse  of  Commons   de- 


298  PRESBYTERIANS. 

clared  that  the  "  plantations  of  New  England  have  by 
the  blessings  of  the  Almighty  had  good  and  prosperous 
success  without  any  public  charge  to  this  State,  and  are 
now  likely  to  prove  very  happy  for  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  in  these  parts  and  very  beneficial  to  the 
kingdom  and  nation."  Religious  conviction  was  a  life- 
controlling  motive  with  the  early  Presbyterian  ministers 
and  their  congregations.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the 
itinerant  ministers  to  the  "  destitute  places"  should  in- 
clude, among  their  objects  of  religious  effort,  the  Indian 
population.  The  conflict  between  the  whites  and  the 
Indians  had  not  yet  produced  the  feeling,  now  wide- 
spread among  white  people,  that  the  only  possible 
"good  Indian  was  the  dead  Indian."  The  zeal  of  Eliot 
was  matched  by  the  early  history  of  David  Brainerd  ; 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Church  was  manifested  when,  in 
1759,  John  Brainerd,  brother  of  David  Brainerd,  was 
taken  from  the  church  at  Newark  to  carry  on  the  work 
among  the  Indians.  For  years  John  Brainerd  kept  up 
his  Indian  school  and  mission.  So  far  as  his  conscious- 
ness of  his  work  was  concerned,  as  well  as  the  feeling 
of  the  Church  in  sending  him  out,  all  was  purely  the 
spirit  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  Brainerds  preceded 
Carey  almost  half  a  century.  The  "  Society  for  Prop- 
agating Christian  Knowledge,"  located  in  Scotland,  es- 
tablished in  1  741  a  "  Board  of  Correspondents  "  in  New 
York,  and  by  them  Rev.  Azariah  Horton  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  York  was,  in  1  742,  appointed  a  missionary. 
In  1763  the  Synod  of  New  York  ordered  a  collection  in 
all  its  churches  for  the  support  of  Indian  missions  ;  and 
in  1766  Charles  Beatty  and  George  Duffield  went  on  a 
mission  to  the  Indians  on  the  Muskingum  River  in 
Ohio.       Various    Indian     missionary   societies  by   this 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH   BOARDS.  299 

time  were  organized  and  at  work.  In  1797  the  North- 
ern Missionary  Society,  composed  in  part  of  Presby- 
terians, was  organized.  In  1803  the  General  Assembly 
selected  Gideon  Blackburn  and  sent  him  to  the  Cher- 
okee Indians  residing  in  Georgia.  When  Blackburn's 
health  failed,  Mr.  Kingsbury  took  up  that  mission  under 
the  American  Hoard.  In  1816  the  United  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary  Society  was  organized  from  members  of  the 
Presbyterian,  Reformed  Dutch  and  Associate  Re- 
formed Churches.  Their  declared  object  was  "  to 
spread  the  gospel  among  the  Indians  of  North  America 
and  other  portions  of  the  heathen  and  anti-Christian 
world."  In  1826  all  the  existing  missionary  enterprises 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  were  merged  into  this  so- 
ciety. In  that  year  the  society  had  a  force  of  sixty 
ministers,  and  the  whole  work  was  transferred  to  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. 

This  noble  organization  was  instituted  in  18 10.  In 
1806  the  famous  "Haystack  Prayer  Meeting"  of  the 
students  of  Williams  College  was  held.  There  Samuel 
J.  Mills  proposed  that  they  attempt  to  send  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen.  Two  years  later  Mills,  Richards  and 
Hall  signed  a  pledge  binding  themselves  to  go  to  the 
foreign  work,  should  it  be  possible  for  them  to  do  so. 
This  was  a  "Student  Volunteer  Mission  Band"  in  ear- 
nest. In  18 10  Mills,  Judson,  Newell  and  Nott,  all  Ando- 
ver  students,  met  a  number  of  ministers  at  Prof. 
Stuart's  house,  and  laid  before  that  private  conference 
their  appeal  to  be  sent  to  the  foreign  field.  The  next 
day  Messrs.  Spring  and  Worcester,  on  the  way  to  the 
General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  formed  the  plan 
of    the   A.  B.  C.  F.  M.       June    29,    1810,   the   Assoc  ia- 


3°°  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tion  adopted  their  plan,  and  the  Board  was  formally 
constituted,  September  5,  at  Farmington,  Conn.  In 
181 2,  Judson,  Newell,  Hall,  Nott  and  Rice  sailed  for 
Calcutta,  and  the  work  was  thus  fairly  inaugurated.  It 
is  possible  that  the  original  plan  did  not  contemplate 
connection    with  any  other    than    the    Conoreeational 


PRESBYTERIAN    HOSPITAL,    ALLAHABAD,    INDIA. 

churches  of  New  England.  In  181 1  the  Board  sug- 
gested to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  the  forming  of  a  board  of  its  own  for  foreign 
missions.  June  12,  1812,  the  Assembly  heartily  in- 
dorsed the  proposal  of  the  Board,  but  expressed  doubt 
as  to  the  advisability  of  a  separate  organization,  and 
preferred  uniting  in  the  work  with  their  Congregational 
brethren.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  this  year,  181 2, 
eight  commissioners  were  elected  into  the  Board  from 
among  the  most  prominent   members   of  the    Presbyte- 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  301 

rian  Church.  In  1814  a  member  was  elected  from  the 
Associate  Reformed  Church;  in  1816  one  from  the 
Reformed  Dutch,  and  subsequently  members  were 
added  from  the  German  Reformed  Church.  Steadily 
this  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  grew  to  be  the  leading  organ  of 
various  denominations  for  the  foreign  missionary  work. 
As  already  stated,  in  1826  the  Northern  Missionary 
Society  went  out  of  existence  and  transferred  its  mis- 
sions to  this  Board.  The  object  for  which  the  Board 
was  created,  as  stated  in  its  charter,  is  "  for  the  purpose 
of  propagating  the  gospel  in  heathen  lands  by  support- 
ing ministers  and  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures."  The  Board  consists  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-three  members,  of  whom  one-third  are  to  be 
laymen,  one-third  clergymen,  and  the  other  third  may 
be  either.  Until  about  1830  the  whole  foreign  mission- 
ary work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  carried  on 
through  this  agency. 

The  deepening  missionary  spirit  of  this  country,  how- 
ever, was  rapidly  growing,  and  the  conviction,  always 
acted  upon,  was  beginning  to  shape  itself  into  words 
and  actions  ;  namely,  that  the  Church  itself  was  a  mis- 
sionary society.  Missionary  committees  in  the  General 
Assembly  were  making  earnest  reports,  and  Presby- 
terian missionaries  in  the  foreign  fields  were  sending 
home  urgent  appeals  for  additional  help.  It  is,  there- 
fore, hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  strengthening- 
Church  should  feel  called  upon  to  enter  the  field  in  its 
own  name.  The  propriety  of  organizing  a  separate 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  under  the  control  of  the 
Assembly,  or  continuing  to  co-operate  with  the  Con- 
gregational Church  in  the  support  of  the  American 
Board   of   Foreign  Missions,  was  frequently  debated  in 


302  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  highest  judicatory  of  the  church,  and  this  question 
finally  came  to  be  one  of  the  pivotal  questions  which 
led  to  the  separation  between  the  Old  School  and  the 
New  School  a  few  years  later.  Unfortunately,  divisions 
of  opinion  upon  various  questions  grew  up  in  the  Assem- 
bly, and  parties  divided  very  nearly  on  the  same 
lines. 

The  Western  Missionary  Society  was  organized  by 
the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  in  October,  1831,  and  the  second 
article  of  their  constitution  declares  the  object  of  the 
society  to  be  "  to  aid  in  fulfilling  the  last  great  com- 
mand of  the  glorified  Redeemer,  by  conveying  the  gos- 
pel to  whatever  parts  of  the  heathen  and  the  anti- 
Christian  world  that  the  providence  of  God  may  enable 
this  society  to  extend  its  evangelical  exertions."  In 
succeeding  years  there  was  a  large  and  influential  ele- 
ment in  the  General  Assembly  in  favor  of  taking  this 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  under  the  control 
of  the  General  Assembly.  This  was  the  Old  School 
party,  and  after  the  division  in  1837  this  was  imme- 
diately accomplished  by  them.  The  Board,  after  this 
reorganization,  was  called  "  The  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  and  consisted  of  forty  ministers 
and  forty  laymen.  The  first  report  of  this  Board,  made 
in  1838,  showed  15  missionaries,  23  assistants  with  190 
pupils  in  the  schools  in  the  foreign  field.  The  total 
receipts  were  $45,498.  The  growth  of  this  foreign  mis- 
sionary work  from  thence  onward  has  been  inspiring. 
The  missionaries  were  at  once  authorized  to  organize 
themselves  into  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  and  an  im- 
mense amount  of  laborious  work,  in  the  way  of  reducing 
languages  to  writing,   translating   the   Scriptures,   pre- 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  303 

paring  translations  of  school   books  and  other  books, 
was  accomplished. 

After  the  division  between  the  Old  and  New  Schools, 
the  New  School  Church  continued  to  contribute  to  and 
co-operate  with  the  American  Board.  Naturally 
enough,  the  native  churches  organized  in  the  for- 
eign  field  were  organized  as  independent  churches. 
As  those  foreign  mission  stations  enlarged  in  the  mini- 
her  of  ministers,  teachers,  pupils  and  church  members, 
the  number  of  churches  increased.  The  contributions 
of  the  New  School  Church  to  the  American  Board 
were  very  large  ;  and  a  very  considerable  number  of 
the  missionaries  sent  out  by  that  Board  were  members 
of  the  various  Presbyteries.  In  time  the  question  of 
the  number  of  churches  in  these  missionary  stations 
which  were  connected  with  the  New  School  Assembly, 
came  to  be  inquired  into,  and  in  1859  overtures  on  this 
point  were  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  from  the 
Synod  of  Minnesota,  the  Presbyteries  of  Newark,  of 
Philadelphia  Third  and  of  Greencastle.  The  overture 
of  Philadelphia  Third  called  attention  to  the  fact  "that, 
after  contributing  millions  of  money,  we  have  not  a 
single  mission  church  or  but  one  in  the  entire  foreign 
field."  This  was  not  fairly  to  be  attributed  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Board,  but  was  simply  a  result  that  grew 
out  of  the  situation  of  affairs.  It  can  be  readily  seen, 
however,  that  the  result  being  what  it  was,  and  the 
public  attention  of  the  Church  called  to  it,  it  produced 
great  readiness  to  unite  with  the  Old  School  Church  in 
the  formation  of  one  consolidated  body,  managing  its 
own  foreign  missionary  affairs.  This  greatly  promoted 
reunion  sentiments  in  the  Church  prior  to  1S70,  and 
contributed  to  pave  the  way  for  the  event  of  that  year. 


304 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


The  reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Churches 
raised  at  once  a  very  delicate  question  ;  and  it  was  a 
source  of  profound  thanksgiving  that  the  settlement  of 
it  was  accomplished  in  such  a  high-toned  Christian 
spirit.      The   New  School  Church   had  been  large  con- 


PRESBYTERIAN    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,    TOKIO,    JAPAN. 

tributors  to  the  hinds  of  the  American  Board.  Very 
many  of  the  missionaries  were  ministers  and  laymen  of 
the  New  School  body.  The  Societies  and  Presbyteries 
and  churches  were  deeply  attached  to  their  own  repre- 
sentatives in  the  foreign  field.  Ordinarily,  it  would 
have  been  the  understanding  that  when  the  Old  and 
New  School  united  the  American  Board  would  be  left 
in  charge  of  all  the  stations  that  had  grown  up  under 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  305 

its  care.  Two  serious  objections  were  urgent  against 
that  course.  In  the  first  place,  this  would  leave  the 
Board  with  all  its  old  financial  burdens  on  its  hands, 
and  with  a  very  large  amount  of  its  supporting  con- 
tributors withdrawn.  On  the  other  hand,  these  same 
contributors  would  feel  a  very  great  sorrow  at  severing 
their  intimate  connection  with  their  friends  in  these 
various  foreign  fields.  As  a  result,  the  reunited  Gen- 
eral Assembly  appointed  a  very  able  committee  of 
conference  with  the  American  Board.  When  these 
representatives  of  the  two  parties  came  together,  it 
was  with  an  earnest  and  humble  desire  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  should  lead  them  to  see  and  to  do  what  was 
right  and  just  among  Christian  brethren.  Under  such 
circumstances,  it  is  ordinarily  not  difficult  to  find  out 
just  what  is  the  right  way.  It  was  finally  agreed  that 
the  missions  of  Syria,  Persia  and  the  Gaboon  Missions 
in  Africa  and  those  among  the  Dakotah,  Nez  Perce, 
Seneca  and  Lake  Superior  Chippewa  Indians  should 
be  transferred  from  under  the  care  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F. 
M.  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 
This  left  some  in  the  foreign  field  in  other  stations 
which  the  Church  greatly  regretted  to  leave,  and  who 
were  much  saddened  by  seeming  to  have  their  connec- 
tion with  their  home  churches  severed  or  chancred.  A 
large  number  of  the  New  School  ministers  and  laymen 
who  had  been  connected  with  the  American  Board  still 
continued  their  contributions.  These  were  fairly  rep- 
resented by  Mr.  William  F.  Dodge  of  New  York,  who 
said  at  the  time,  that  he  should  never  cease  his  annual 
contributions  to  the  American  Board,  though  he  should 
give  according  to  his  ability  also  to  the  Foreign  Board 
of  the  United  Church. 


306  PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  growth  of  this  foreign  work  since  the  reunion 
has  been  most  gratifying.  The  Board  has  now  under 
its  care  twenty-seven  distinct  missions.  The  missions 
in  two  different  fields  have  been  consolidated  with  na- 
tive churches  in  the  countries  where  they  are  located. 
They  are  in  a  sense  still  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  For- 
eign Board,  as  it  appoints  the  missionaries  and  furnishes 
the  support.  In  another  sense  these  missionaries  and 
churches  are  members  of  the  independent  self-govern- 
ing Church  of  their  own  country.  This  was  first  true  of 
Brazil,  and  is  now  true  of  Japan.  Movements  for  the 
consolidation  of  the  various  Presbyterian  missions  of 
the  different  Presbyterian  bodies  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  are  now  on  foot,  with  a  view  of  a 
like  result  both  in  China  and  in  India. 

This  is  the  result  which  is  ultimately  to  be  expected 
in  any  country  where  mission  work  is  blessed  in  the 
future  with  such  success  as  that  of  which  the  past  gives 
promise.  The  effort  of  the  missionaries  has  always 
been  directed  toward  such  an  organization  of  education 
as  would  raise  up  and  furnish  a  native  ministry,  capable  of 
managing  the  native  churches  and  the  native  work.  In 
many  missions  there  are  native  churches,  supporting  by 
their  own  funds  their  native  pastors.  Colleges  and 
theological  schools  are  opened  in  every  leading  country. 
Medical  missionaries  are  doing  an  immense  work,  and 
rapidly  gaining  in  those  countries  an  influential  posi- 
tion for  foreign  science  and  scholarship.  Despite  all 
the  statements  to  the  contrary  made  by  ignorant  and 
hostile  critics,  the  missionaries  themselves  have  in  the 
opinion  of  the  natives  proved  themselves  to  be  experts 
in  scholarship,  education,  medical  work,  exact  transla- 
tion, book-publishing,  itinerating  and  in  the  planning  and 


JOHN    CAMERON    LOWRIE,   D.  D. 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  307 

superintending  the  construction  of  buildings.  The 
Arabic  Bible  is  readable  by  200.000,000  Moslems.  The 
Chinese  Bible  is  readable  by  more  persons  than  the 
Arabic.  Beyrout  College  is  a  university.  The  insti- 
tutions of  higher  education  of  China,  India,  Japan  and 
Brazil  are  recognized  by  the  natives  as  equal  to  their 
best  in  their  own  scholarship.  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin 
is  Chancellor  of  the  Imperial  University  of  Pekin,  and 
Dr.  S.  G.  M'Farland  is  President  of  the  King's  College 
of  Siam.  The  name  of  Lowrie  has  been  identified  with 
the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  its  whole 
history.  Hon.  Walter  Lowrie  was  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Senate  from  Pennsylvania  for  six  years, 
and  for  the  next  twelve  years  Secretary  of  the  Senate. 
He  left  that  high  place  to  take  the  higher  one  of  Sec- 
retary of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 
When  that  society  was  taken  up  by  the  General 
Assembly  he  was  continued  in  the  office.  His  son,  Rev. 
Walter  M.  Lowrie,  was  a  missionary  to  China  and  was 
drowned  by  pirates  in  the  China  Sea.  Another  son,  Rev. 
John  C.  Lowrie,  D.  D.,  was  first  a  missionary  to  India, 
and  since  1838  has  been  secretary  of  the  Board.  He 
has  helped  to  develop  the  foreign  work  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  from  the  first  of  its  separate  establish- 
ment till  it  has  reached  its  present  colossal  magnitude. 

BOARD    OF    EDUCATION. 

It  has  always  been  true  for  the  Presbyterian  Church 
that  the  harvest  has  been  exceedingly  great  and  pro- 
portionately the  laborers  few.  In  the  conviction  that  a 
successful  ministry  should  be  an  educated  ministry,  the 
early  Presbyterian  ministers  strove  to  improve  the 
means  for  this  education,    and  increase  the    number  of 


308  •  PRESBYTERIANS. 

candidates  for  the  pastoral  office.  Among  these  candi- 
dates (as  is  always  true)  there  was  a  large  number  of 
bright  students  who  had  very  limited  means  of  support. 
In  the  early  Presbyteries  and  Synods  various  schemes 
were  set  on  foot  to  provide  means  for  the  education  of 
these  talented  youth  in  their  poverty.  Numerous  plans 
were  proposed,  temporarily  adopted  and  finally  aban- 
doned as  impracticable.  The  usual  reason  was  the  lack 
of  funds.  Sometimes  it  was  proposed  that  the  pupils 
should  be  admitted  without  tuition,  but  that  left  the 
teacher  without  support.  Then  the  effort  was  made 
through  tuition  to  provide  a  salary  for  the  teachers. 
As  is  elsewhere  noticed,  Princeton  College  grew  out  of 
this  desire  to  provide  more  pastors.  In  a  measure  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  was  also  the  development  of 
this  same  earnest  purpose  after  education.  In  1757  aid 
was  secured  for  the  Presbyterian  school  from  the  "  Ger- 
man Fund,"  and  arrangements  made  for  the  education 
of  a  limited  number  of  Germans  in  the  school  at  Chester 
Level.  In  1769  it  was  recorded  that  "  the  Synod  look 
upon  this  matter  (for  the  necessary  support  of  a  col- 
lege) as  of  great  importance,  and  appoint  three  to  make 
suitable  representation  for  the  information  of  the 
several  congregations." 

In  1771  a  general  education  plan  was  adopted.  This 
proposed  that  every  Presbytery  should  inquire  after 
suitable  candidates,  and  that  those  needing  help  should 
receive  aid  from  a  general  fund.  It  was  an  elegant 
scheme  in  theory,  and  after  being  re-enjoined  for  several 
years  was  finally  abandoned  as  impracticable.  In  1806 
a  special  committee  reported  "a  plan  for  increasing  the 
number  of  candidates,"  and  the  Presbyteries  were  re- 
quested to  give  an  account  of  their  diligence  in  its  prose- 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  309 

cution.  In  1819  fifty-nine  young  men  were  reported  as 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbyteries.  The  same  year, 
18 19,  the  General  Assembly  established  a  "General 
Board  of  Education,"  and  o-ave  it  a  regular  constitu- 
tion.  The  declared  objects  were  four:  "  First,  to  rec- 
ognize Presbyterian  associations  as  auxiliary  to  this 
General  Board.  Second,  to  assist  Presbyteries  in  edu- 
cating pious  youth  for  the  gospel  ministry.  Third,  to 
assign  to  the  several  auxiliary  societies  a  just  propor- 
tion of  the  whole  disposable  funds.  Fourth,  to  concert 
and  execute  measures  for  increasing  the  fund."  In  1822 
it  was  voted  "  that  the  General  Assembly  consider  the 
education  of  poor  and  pious  youth  of  promising  talents 
for  the  gospel  ministry,  a  subject  of  interesting  impor- 
tance especially  considering  the  rapid  population  and 
the  increasing  number  of  destitute  settlements  of  our 
country."  Year  after  year  this  subject  was  considered, 
its  importance  urged  upon  the  Church  and  various 
modifications  adopted  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  times. 
One  constant  source  of  perplexity  was  the  question  of 
requiring  candidates  to  pledge  themselves  to  enter  the 
ministry  as  a  condition  of  receiving  aid.  It  was  found 
that  oftentimes  these  pledges  were  hurriedly  given, 
and  afterward  broken.  Many  times  they  proved  a 
snare  to  weak  consciences,  and  not  unfrequently  Pres- 
byteries sought  means  to  escape  from  licensing  such 
unsuitable  candidates.  It  finally  came  to  be  the  policy 
only  to  require  candidates  that  failed  to  enter  the 
ministry  to  pledge  themselves  to  refund  the  money 
they  had  received  in  assistance  of  their  education. 
Like  the  administration  of  all  other  contributions  for 
good  ends,  the  task  had  its  difficulties.  Candidates  for 
the  ministry  are  reasonably  conspicuous  in  their  own 


3io 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


neighborhood,  and  when  any  turn  out  badly,  the  ap- 
parent misapplication  of  funds  in  such  cases  works  un- 
usual injury  to  that  form  of  philanthropy. 

Alone  with  the  effort  to  educate  men,  there  was 
always  present  the  motive  for  multiplying  institutions 
for  education.  An  increasing  number  of  theological 
seminaries  demanded  an  increasing  number  of  colleges. 


COLLEGE   OF   MONTANA,    DEER    LODGE,    MONT. 

The  General  Assembly,  therefore,  sought  to  devise 
means  to  aid  these  schools.  The  subject  of  parochial 
schools  in  connection  with  individual  congregations 
received  special  attention.  In  the  Old  School  As- 
sembly of  1844  a  notable  report  was  adopted  upon  that 
subject  ;  and  the  General  Assembly,  in  1847,  referred 
the  whole  subject  to  the  Board  of  Education  and 
authorized  that  Board  to  expend  whatever  money 
might  be  committed  to  it  for  that  purpose,  in  aid  of  the 
establishment  of  parochial  and  Presbyterial  schools. 
Differences  of  opinion  existed  as  to  the  best  manner  of 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  311 

maintaining  religious  control  of  colleges,  but  the  dif- 
ferences were  as  to  the  mode  of  control,  and  not  as  to 
the  importance  of  the  religious  influence  in  these  insti- 
tutions of  learning.  It  would  have  probably  been 
well  if  the  Church  at  that  time  had  persisted  in  the 
policy  of  aiding  in  the  establishment  of  Church  schools, 
instead  of  postponing  attention  to  that  important  task 
until  the  Board  of  Aid  for  Colleges  was  established  in 
.1883.  Money  to  establish  colleges  was  not  easily  pro- 
cured, and  the  money  that  was  procured  seemed  to  go 
further  when  distributed  among  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry. Thus  the  Board  and  the  Church  slowly  drew  off 
from  the  college  work,  and  entirely  concentrated  atten- 
tion upon  the  special  work  of  educating  individual 
men. 

The  policy  of  educating  men  has  always  been  more 
or  less  debated,  but  the  conclusion  has  generally  been 
in  the  affirmative.  Theoretical  objections  have  been 
urged  that  this  acceptance  of  assistance  on  the  part  of 
theological  students  would  destroy  their  manliness  of 
character  ;  but  it  has  been  found  that  this  depends 
almost  wholly  upon  the  individual  man.  The  amount 
of  aid  sjiven  has  never  been  more  than  two  hundred 
dollars  per  year.  And  it  has  only  reached  this  sum  in 
recent  times.  To  receive  aid  the  young  man  must 
now  be  recommended  both  by  his  church  and  his  Pres- 
bytery. No  man  who  is  worth  ordaining  will  be  spoiled 
by  twenty-five  dollars  per  month  for  eight  months  of 
the  year.  Common  day  laborers  get  more  than  that. 
The  ministry  is  largely  re-enforced  from  the  ranks  of 
the  humbler  circles  of  the  Church,  if  rank  is  estimated 
on  the  basis  of  this  world's  goods.  Now  and  then 
persons  born  in   the  midst  of  luxury,  and  able  to  look 


312  PRESBYTERIANS. 

forward  to  the  possession  of  inherited  wealth,  are 
blessed  with  such  a  spirit  of  consecration  that  they  are 
willing  to  go  anywhere  and  do  anything  ;  but  these  are 
exceptional  cases  rather  than  illustrations  of  any  gen- 
eral rule.  The  early  Apostles  were  from  the  ranks  of 
the  middle  classes  and  the  poor,  and  the  modern 
"Apostles  of  missions  and  the  Church"  have  generally 
come  from  the  same  circles  of  society.  However  some 
may  object  to  giving  aid  toward  theological  education, 
large  numbers  of  Christian  people  have  felt  that  it  was 
a  privilege.  If  young  men  and  women  are  willing  to 
turn  aside  from  the  vocations  that  promise  wealth  and 
fame,  to  enter  the  mission  fields  where  only  a  bare  liv- 
ing is  promised,  and  that  oftentimes  in  obscurity,  the 
least  the  Church  can  do  would  seem  to  be  to  enable 
them  to  obtain  their  education  without  the  concomitant 
of  a  debt.  Many  of  the  ablest  ministers,  now  occupying 
laree  churches,  have  thus  been  aided,  and  are  not 
ashamed  to  own  it.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
injured  by  it.  The  Church  could  sorely  afford  to  spare 
the  brilliant  men  and  women  who  have  thus  been  sent 
out  into  the  newer  parts  of  the  home  field,  and  into 
the  difficult  parts  of  the  foreign  field. 

BOOKS,   READING    AND    GENERAL    IMPROVEMENT. 

An  educated  ministry  is  certain  to  develop  church 
members  who  crave  intellectual  instruction.  Printing 
enables  people  to  bring  to  their  own  homes  the  intel- 
lectual food  which,  previous  to  the  discovery  of  that 
art,  had  to  be  secured  through  oral  instruction.  Some 
of  the  early  devices  for  satisfying  this  craving,  among 
the  people  of  new  sections,  for  literature  and  reading, 
were  quite  interesting  and  curious.    Presbyteries  sought 


MISSIONS    AND    CHURCH    HOARDS.  313 

to  establish    circulating-   libraries  in    their   midst,    from 
which  ministers  and  others  could  draw  books,   as  occa- 
sion needed.      Earnest  exhortations   were  addressed  to 
the   churches   to   provide   congregational   libraries    for 
the  use  of  the  ministers.      Pastoral   salaries  were  con- 
fessedly  small,   and   soon   the   attention  of  the  people 
was  called   to  the  importance    to  themselves  of  supply- 
ing their  ministers  with   libraries,  as  well  as  with  par- 
sonages and  additional  grounds  as  a  glebe.      Not  a  few 
churches  adopted  this  excellent   policy.      Many  an  old- 
time  minister  had  not  only  a  partly  furnished  house  to 
live   in,  but   a   small   farm   attached  thereto.      Some  of 
these  ministers  so  cultivated  these  farms  in  their  leisure 
moments  that  the)*  gained  admirable  vigor  of  health  and 
a  toughness,  resulting  in  long  life,  and  were  able  to  save 
almost    the  whole   of    their   salary.      In    1772    the  old 
Synod  took  action  to  select  a  list  of  books  suitable  for 
general  circulation.     To  guard  against  unwise  publica- 
tions, the  brethren  almost  established  a  censorship  of 
the  press.      In    1735    it  was  agreed  "that  if  any  of  our 
members  shall  see  cause  to  prepare  anything  for  the 
press  upon   any  controversies  in  religious  matters,  be- 
fore such  member  publish  what  he  has  thus   prepared 
he  shall  submit  the  same  to  be  perused  by  persons  to 
be  appointed  for  that  purpose."      A  committee  to  act 
"northward    of   Philadelphia,"  was  appointed,   and  an- 
other committee  to    act  "southward   of   Philadelphia." 
Three  of  the  committee  were  a  quorum. 

Of  course  the  publication  and  distribution  of  the 
Scriptures  was  always  held  to  be  an  important  matter. 
Bibles  were  always  included  in  every  list  of  books  suit- 
able for  distribution.  Calls  were  made  for  contribu- 
tions of   Bibles  and  other  good  books,  and   committees 


314  PRESBYTERIANS. 

appointed  to  receive  them.  Some  of  these  committees 
were  allowed  out  of  the  "Fund  for  Pious  Uses"  a 
small  sum  of  money  to  be  expended  in  the  purchase 
of  books  for  this  kind  of  distribution.  In  1783  a  col- 
lection was  appointed  for  the  purchase  of  Bibles.  An 
intimation  had  been  received  that  a  Mr.  Aitken  had 
undertaken  the  publication  of  Bibles  and  the  importa- 
tion of  them  from  Europe,  and  it  was  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  all  to  purchase  such  in  preference  to  any 
other.  In  1789  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  first 
meeting,  indorsed  the  project  of  "Mr.  Collins,  printer 
to  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  who  proposed  to  make  an 
impression  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  de- 
clared the  scheme  worthy  of  the  countenance  and  sup- 
port of  all  denominations  of  Christians."  A  commit- 
tee of  sixteen  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Assembly 
was  appointed  to  bring  the  subject  before  the  respec- 
tive Presbyteries  ;  and  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Smith  and 
Armstrong  were  appointed  as  the  Presbyterian  members 
of  a  joint  committee  to  revise  and  correct  the  proof 
sheets.  This  same  project  was  recommended  in  1790 
and  1  79 1.  The  American  Bible  Society  was  organized 
in  1816,  and  at  its  next  meeting  the  General  Assembly 
"  records  its  gratitude  and  heartfelt  pleasure  at  the 
formation  of  this  society."  The  Bible  Society  has  al- 
ways been  an  organization  to  which  all  Assemblies, 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  have  given  their  most  cordial 
indorsement.  Since  its  organization  no  other  move- 
ment for  the  publication  of  Bibles  has  had  much  sup- 
port in  the  Church. 

About  1850,  the  American  Bible  Society,  in  the  most 
innocent  way,  proposed  a  revision  of  their  standard 
editiun.      The  design  of   the  revision  was  undoubtedly 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  3 1  5 

good,  but  it  included  the  question  of  spelling  the  word 
spirit  with  a  capital,  or  without  it.  When  spelled 
with  a  capital,  it  referred  to  the  third  person  of  the 
Trinity.  When  spelled  otherwise,  it  had  not  that  spe- 
cific reference.  The  Bible  Society's  Committee  on  Re- 
vision proposed  to  change  the  spelling  of  this  word  as 
to  this  particular  in  many  passages.  This  was  looked 
upon  as  a  very  high  species  of  Scriptural  interpreta- 
tion, and  the  Presbyterian  Church,  perhaps  more  than 
any  other  denomination,  entered  its  protest  against  the 
Bible  Society's  assuming  authority  for  such  commenta- 
tion. Before  very  long  the  revision  was  abandoned, 
and  the  Bible  Society  confined  itself  closely  to  the 
terms  of  its  constitution,  the  publication  of  King 
James's  Version  of  the  Bible,  "  without  note  or  com- 
ment." 

While  the  Church  has  thus  relegated  the  whole  work 
of  printing  Bibles  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  it 
has  always  appreciated  the  necessity  for  its  own  work 
in  the  publication  of  religious  tracts  and  books.  Both 
branches  of  the  Church,  during  the  division  between 
the  Old  and  New  Schools,  enoaoed  in  this  work. 
There  are  many  of  the  more  strictly  doctrinal  books 
which  may  not  have  a  sale  sufficient  to  make  their  pub- 
lication a  paying  operation.  Ministers,  many  times, 
may  be  in  need  of  such  books,  and  find  it  difficult,  for 
the  reason  just  mentioned,  to  get  them.  Private  mem- 
bers also  may  often  seek,  with  like  difficulty,  to  procure 
some  able  and  authoritative  exposition  of  the  doctrines 
of  their  own  Church.  Rather  than  such  a  want  should 
go  unsupplied,  the  Church  ought  itself  to  furnish  the 
facility  for  meeting  it.  True  economy  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  would  place   the   intellectual    and   spiritual 


316  PRESBYTERIANS. 

benefit  of  its  members  first,  and  then  consider  what  ex- 
pense can  be  saved  in  the  business  of  promoting  it. 
When,  however,  ministers  want  them,  or  private  mem- 
bers desire  an  able,  authoritative  exposition  of  the  doc- 
trines of  their  own  Church,  they  want  such  books  very 
earnestly.  Experience  has  proved  that  a  denomination 
which  does  not  print  and  circulate  its  own  literature  can- 
not prosper.  Even  denominations  which  have  specially 
claimed  to  have  no  creed  have  found  it  necessary  to 
give  attention  to  the  publication  of  standard  books. 

The  book  business  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  a 
business,  has  been  so  managed  as  to  support  itself. 
For  the  purpose  merely  of  publishing  books  contribu- 
tions have  never  been  asked  beyond  what  was  necessary 
to  furnish  an  original  working  capital  for  the  publica- 
tion house.  The  profits  of  the  business  have  been 
sufficient  to  increase  this  capital  as  rapidly  as  was 
deemed  essential.  Donations  have  been  asked  exclu- 
sively for  the  sztpport  of  the  colportezirs  and  the  Sabbath- 
school  work.  These  colporteurs  are  the  pioneers  of  the 
churches.  They  travel  through  sparsely  settled  dis- 
tricts, and  bring  Bibles  and  good  books  directly  to  the 
homes  of  the  people.  They  converse  and  pray  with 
these  scattered  children  of  the  fold,  and  are  able  to 
report  places  where  missions  would  be  the  most  promis- 
ing. Oftentimes  their  sales  amount  to  enough,  even 
with  the  small  profit  allowed,  to  pay  for  the  undertak- 
ing. The  books  have  generally,  however,  been  sold 
very  nearly  at  cost.  The  object  is  to  disseminate 
religious  truth,  and  not  to  make  money.  The  colpor- 
teur is  a  missionary  and  not  a  book  peddler.  He  has 
been,  in  many  cases,  extremely  useful  and  greatly 
blessed  in  his  work. 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  3 17 

During  the  hundred  years  since  Robert  Raikes 
started  the  Sunday-school  movement,  the  Presbyterian 
Church  has  been  an  efficient  laborer  in  that  field.  The 
instruction  of  children  was  always  part  of  her  policy. 
The  Westminster  Assembly  prepared  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism with  special  reference  to  the  need  of  parents  in 
educating  their  children.  In  the  old  country,  as  well  as 
in  this,  the  catechising  of  children  was  one  of  the  forms 
of  parental  education  and  pastoral  service  which  was 
steadily  insisted  on.  The  increasing  attention  given  to 
Sunday-school  work  has,  by  some,  been  believed  to  be 
r.  reason  for  the  decline  of  this  form  of  labor  for  the 
baptized  children.  Many  believe  that  this  neglect  of 
catechising  is  a  great  evil.  Years  ago  the  Board  of 
Publication  sought  to  give  Sunday-school  teachers  valu- 
able help  by  the  publication  of  works  on  methods  of 
Sunday-school  instruction.  The  American  Sunday 
School  Union  long  ago  published  Union  Question 
Books  upon  various  books  of  the  Bible,  and  these  were 
largely  used  in  the  Sunday  schools.  As  early  as  1839 
that  Union  Society  published  a  book  entitled  "  The 
Teacher  Taught."  In  these  later  days,  when  normal 
classes  and  teachers'  classes  are  found  everywhere,  per- 
sons are  apt  to  suppose  that  these  are  new  things  under 
the  sun.  Present  names  may  be  new,  but  the  desire  of 
teachers  to  do  better  work,  and  the  desire  of  Church 
leaders  to  help  them  in  plans  for  this  better  work,  are 
by  no  means  new  things.  At  present  the  Sunday- 
school  department  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publi- 
cation is  its  great  missionary  department.  It  is  found 
that  the  colporteurs  of  former  times  could  have  their 
efficiency  promoted  by  commissioning  them  to  hold 
Sabbath-school     conventions,    organize      schools     and 


3i8 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


supply  these  schools  with  libraries.  In  1887  tne  Gen- 
eral Assembly  adopted  the  report  of  a  committee 
which  recommended  the  changing  of  the  technical  name 
of  the  Board  from  "  The  Board  of  Publication,"  to  "  The 
Board  of  Publication  and  Sunday-school  Work." 
From  that  time  onward  all  contributions  have  gone  to 
this  Sunday-school  department  and  its  mission  work. 
The  Westminster  system  of  Lesson  Helps  is  one  of 


COLLEGE    OF    EMPORIA,    EMPORIA,    KAN. 


the  very  best  now  offered  to  the  public.  Children's 
day  in  June  has  become  a  recognized  institution  in  all 
the  Sunday  schools.  The  collections  taken  on  that  day 
are  not  large  from  any  one  giver,  but  when  gathered 
together  they  furnish  the  chief  means  for  the  wide- 
spread work  of  this  department  throughout  the  whole 
country.  The  theological  seminaries  have  sessions  for 
about  eight  months  of  the  year.  This  gives  a  good 
long  vacation  in  the  summer.  It  is  excellent  experience 
that  is  to  be  secured  by  theological  students  spending 
this   vacation    as  a  season  of  work  under  this  Sunday- 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  319 

school  missionary  department.  Numbers  of  these 
students  find  most  helpful  employment  each  year  in 
this  direction.  They  go  back  to  the  seminaries  under- 
standing- their  future  work,  and  appreciating  their 
opportunities.  The  report  of  the  Board  for  the  year 
1 89 1  gives  the  following  statistics,  which  show  the 
gratifying  results  of  this  enterprise  both  to  the  churches, 
the  Sunday  schools,  the  missionary  colporteurs  and  the 
outside  public  : 

Sabbath  Schools 7,117 

An  increase  for  the  year  of  583. 
Officers,  Teachers  and  Pupils 947,337 

An  increase  for  the  year  of  47,246. 

Scholars  joined  the  Church 25,240 

Contributions  for  all  purposes $598,341 

BOARD    OF    CHURCH    ERECTION. 

Religious  enthusiasm  finds  itinerating  mission  work 
much  the  most  attractive.  It  looks  like  the  immediate 
work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  travel  from  place  to 
place,  holding  evangelistic  meetings.  Undoubtedly,  in 
the  early  Church  very  much  of  the  work  done  by  the 
Apostles  was  of  this  character.  It  is  also  probable 
that  the  evanescent  character  of  the  early  Churches  in 
Western  Asia,  Northern  Africa,  and  Southeastern 
Europe  was  due  to  want  of  attention  to  matters  looking 
toward  permanency.  If  Christianity  is  to  be  perma- 
nently strong,  and  financially  able,  and  intellectually 
competent  to  carry  on  large  schemes  of  aggressive 
missionary  work,  great  attention  must  be  paid  to  these 
things  which  help  to  secure  enduring  strength  and 
power.  In  the  early  history  of  this  country,  in  the 
desolate  places  there  were  many  neighborhoods  anxious 
to  have  regular  preaching  ;  but  neither  then   nor  since 


320  PRESBYTERIANS. 

has  pastoral  work  been  stable  and  useful,  unless  the 
congregation  is  furnished  with  a  house  in  which  to 
worship.  Camp  meetings  in  the  open  woods  and  basket 
meeting-s  in  destitute  neighborhoods  are  excellent  tern- 
porary  expedients.  They  are  mainly  available,  how- 
ever, for  the  newer  districts.  When  populations  become 
settled,  and  accustomed  to  good  houses  for  their  homes, 
and  good  buildings  for  their  public  gatherings,  they  are 
not  content  to  hold  church  services  in  the  open  air  all 
the  year  around.  It  is  a  great  task  for  a  small  church 
in  a  destitute  neighborhood  to  erect  a  suitable  building. 
Unsuitable  buildings,  badly  constructed  and  unfavor- 
ably located,  are  oftentimes  more  of  a  hindrance  than 
a  help  to  the  growth  of  a  church.  The  early  fathers 
of  Presbyterianism  learned  the  value  of  help  from  the 
strong,  when  wisely  given  to  the  weak,  by  the  necessity 
which  compelled  them  to  appeal  to  the  Churches  of  the 
mother  country  for  aid  in  building  up  the  Church  in 
the  wilderness.  The  New  School  General  Assembly 
in  1850  expressed  the  thought,  which  has  been  true 
through  the  whole  history  of  Presbyterianism  in  this 
country,  in  these  words  :  "  It  is  recommended  to  all  our 
Churches  to  strive  earnestly  to  render  our  religious 
institutions  permanent  by  the  erection  of  church 
edifices  and  the  settlement  of  pastors,  wherever  this 
can  be  done  ;  and  in  this  work  the  old  and  wealthier 
churches  ought  to  co-operate  with  the  younger  and 
feebler."  As  early  as  1733  the  Synod  acted  on  this 
principle  ;  for  it  was  voted  "  that  something  be  allowed 
to  the  congregations  of  Baskingridge  and  Perth  Amboy 
in  order  to  assist  them  in  defraying  the  charges  of  their 
meeting  house."  In  1775  application  was  brought  in 
from   the  Presbyterian   congregation   in   Salem,   in   the 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  321 

Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  representing  that 
"their  meeting  house,  with  many  other  valuable  build- 
ings, had  been  consumed  by  fire;  and  Synod  was 
requested  to  commiserate  their  case,  and  take  such 
methods  for  their  relief  as  might  appear  expedient." 
This  was  accompanied  by  an  earnest  address  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Boston  in  favor  of  this  application. 
Synod  agreed  in  heartily  recommending  this  as  "  an 
object  of  charity,  hoping  all  persons  of  ability  would 
contribute  to  their  relief." 

The  work  of  church  building  is  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  work  of  Home  Missions  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult, even  yet,  to  separate  the  two.  From  the  time  of 
the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  in 
1816,  this  matter  of  aid  for  church  building  was  con- 
stantly brought  to  the  attention  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. The  Assembly  urged  upon  the  churches  the  duty 
of  contributing  for  this  purpose.  The  suggestion  for  a 
special  board  was  often  made,  but  the  Assembly  pre- 
ferred keeping  the  two  causes  combined  under  one 
board.  It  was  believed  that  in  this  way  the  business 
of  both  could  be  transacted  with  less  time  and  expense 
than  by  separate  organizations.  After  the  division  be- 
tween the  Old  and  New  Schools  both  branches  of  the 
Church  kept  pressing  this  work  of  church  extension. 
Annual  committees  were  appointed  to  have  special 
charge  of  the  subject,  and  bring  it  to  the  attention  of 
the  General  Assembly  and  the  churches.  In  1844  the 
Old  School  Assembly  gave  the  Board  of  Missions  spe- 
cific instructions  in  regard  to  the  management  of  this 
department,  and  in  1S51  special  collections  were  directed 
to  be  taken  up  in  aid  of  church  building.  It  was  sup- 
posed by  the  Old  School  Assembly  that  the  great  work 


322  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  the  Board  would  be  the  distribution  of  money  among 
the  various  churches,  as  if  there  was  a  liability  of  more 
trouble  in  judiciously  distributing  the  money  than  in  get- 
ting money  enough  to  meet  the  wants.  For  this  purpose 
the  Church  Erection  Board  was  located  in  St.  Louis  in 
1855,  because  that  city  was  in  the  midst  of  a  region 
where  the  largest  number  of  congregations  were  to  be 
found  needing  aid.  The  New  School  Committee  on 
Church  Extension  was  located  in  Philadelphia.  They 
seem  to  have  foreseen  that  there  would  be  more  work 
to  get  money  than  to  find  places  enough  in  need  of  it. 
When  the  reunion  came  the  experiences  of  both 
branches  led  them  to  believe  that  headquarters  in  the 
East,  where  the  money  was  mainly  to  come  from,  was 
the  better  policy. 

The  New  School  Church,  in  1853,  undertook,  and  by 
1856  accomplished,  the  project  of  raising  a  fund  of 
$100,000,  which  fund  was  to  be  allotted  to  the  different 
Synods,  and  loaned  in  aid  of  church  building.  The 
Church  Extension  Committees  of  the  Assembly,  when 
so  advised  by  the  different  Synods,  were  authorized  to 
donate  from  this  fund  a  sum  not  larger  than  one-fourth 
of  the  amount  allotted  to  the  Synod  for  that  year.  In 
both  branches  of  the  Church  two  conditions  have  always 
been  insisted  on  as  necessary  on  the  part  of  the 
churches  receiving  aid.  The  rules  of  the  Church  Erec- 
tion Board  now  require  that  the  trustees  of  churches 
receiving  aid  shall  give  the  Board  a  mortgage  to  the 
amount  which  they  receive.  This  mortgage  bears  no 
interest,  and  the  principal  is  never  collected  while  the 
congregation  remains  in  connection  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  As  the  money  is  given  by  Presbyterians 
through  a  Presbyterian  Church  Board,  it  is  held  to  be 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  323 

but  fair  that  it  should  be  used  in  connection  with  that 
body.  If  the  congregation  sees  fit  to  leave  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  join  some  other  denomination,  the 
mortgage  is  immediately  collectable  and  interest  is  cal- 
culated from  the  time  the  money  was  first  given.  The 
General  Assembly  has  held  to  a  very  liberal  interpreta- 
tion of  this  mortgage,  and  has  claimed  the  right  to  re- 
lease the  forfeiture  or  transfer  the  mortgage  title  to 
other  bodies  similar  to  our  own.  It  is  believed  that  in 
no  case  has  there  been  objection  made  to  the  transfer- 
ence of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of  a  Church  which 
wished  to  join  the  Southern  Presbyterians.  Indeed, 
very  rarely  has  the  foreclosure  of  a  mortgage  been  en- 
forced, except  where  a  church  was  disbanding,  and  the 
property  about  to  cease  to  be  used  as  a  church.  This 
mortgage  gives  donors  assurance  that  their  contribu- 
tions will  not  be  thrown  away.  The  other  condition  on 
which  churches  receive  this  aid  is  that  they  shall  promise 
to  take  up  an  annual  collection  for  this  Board  of  Church 
Erection.  Those  who  are  themselves  aided  in  securing 
a  church  building,  ought  to  be  willing,  according  to  their 
ability,  to  aid  other  churches  weaker  than  themselves. 
Wherever  these  collections  amount  to  ten  per  cent,  of 
the  amount  of  the  original  aid  given  by  the  Board,  it  is 
credited  on  the  mortgage;  so  that  any  Church  disposed 
to  do  so,  can  in  ten  years  entirely  cancel  the  Board's 
claim  against  its  property.  Occasionally  objections 
are  made  in  various  places  to  these  regulations,  but 
when  properly  understood  they  seem  to  be  eminently 
just  and  fair.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  so  many 
churches,  after  receiving  aid,  and  promising  to  take  up 
collections,  should  feel  at  liberty  to  excuse  themselves 
from  these  collections  on  account  of  poverty.      (  >ne  of 


324  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  Assemblies  well  said :  "  A  church  of  adequate  size 
and  respectable  appearance  is  of  great  importance  to 
every  congregation.  There  are  many  places  in  which 
the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are  too  poor 
to  build  such  houses  as  would  accommodate  themselves 
and  that  portion  of  the  people  who  might  be  induced 
to  attend  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  with  them. 
Under  such  circumstances  unsuitable  churches  are 
erected  sometimes,  and  much  money  wasted.  Assist- 
ance to  a  congregation  in  such  circumstances  is  most 
important."  The  readiness  of  Presbyterian  people  to 
give  for  such  an  object  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
they  not  only  contribute  liberally  to  the  Board,  but  also 
give  additional  sums  to  special  cases  in  which  they  may 
be  interested.  For  the  year  1891  the  total  amount  re- 
ceived by  the  Board  of  Church  Erection  was  $103,- 
304.49.  This  sum  passed  through  the  treasury  of  the 
Board  itself.  The  General  Assembly  has  directed  that 
there  shall  be  reported  by  the  churches  to  the  Presby- 
teries, for  publication  in  the  minutes  under  this  head, 
not  only  what  is  sent  directly  to  the  Board,  but  also 
all  that  is  given  for  church  building,  when  not  given  by  a 
church  to  itself.  The  report  for  church  erection,  as 
given  in  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly,  therefore  shows 
all  the  gifts  of  the  people  to  this  object.  That  amount 
for  1 89 1  is  $360,944. 

MINISTERIAL    RELIEF. 

A  Church  which  aids  its  young  men  to  gain  an  educa- 
tion for  the  ministry  is  sure  to  care  for  its  old  men  after 
they  have  finished  their  life  work.  From  the  very  out- 
set this  cause  has  been  found  close  to  the  heart  of  the 
Presbyterian  membership.      One  of  the  first  conspicuous 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  325 

cases  on  record  is  that  of  Jedediah  Andrews.  He  will 
be  remembered  as  one  of  the  original  members  of  the 
Presbytery  organized  in  1706.  He  came  to  Philadel- 
phia as  a  young  man,  and  served  that  Church  through- 
out all  his  life,  lie  was  with  it  and  the  denomination 
in  the  days  of  its  weakness,  so  that  when  in  1  73$  he  de- 
sired to  have  an  assistant  appointed  to  aid  him  in  his 
pastoral  labors,  the  matter  was  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  Synod.  Synod  declined  to  take  action  on  it, 
unless  provision  was  made  for  a  support  for  him  in  his 
old  age.  This,  his  people,  with  the  true  spirit  of  Phila- 
delphia generosity,  were  quite  ready  to  do,  and  the 
Synod  assented  to  the  arrangement.  Synod  had  already 
taken  action  in  this  line  of  things,  since  in  1  7 1 9  they 
had  made  an  appropriation  for  the  widow  of  Rev.  John 
Wilson,  from  the  "  Fund  for  Pious  Uses."  Throughout 
the  whole  history  of  Synod  and  the  early  days  of  the 
General  Assembly,  this  kind  of  appropriations  were 
made. 

Almost  every  device  for  accomplishing  the  end  has 
been  tried.  Occasionally,  even  yet,  someone  will  pro- 
pose a  system  of  "life  insurance,"  as  if  there  was  no 
such  thing  in  existence,  and  the  thought  entirely  new 
and  original.  The  Presbyterian  Ministers'  Fund  is  still 
in  vigorous  existence,  though  organized  in  175=;.  Its 
first  name  was  the  "Widows'  Fund."  Since  that  time 
its  constitution  has  been  amended,  and  it  has  always 
been  doing  a  fairly  profitable  life  insurance  business 
for  the  special  benefit  of  ministers  and  churches. 
Though  a  business  institution  in  its  legal  structure,  it 
is  truly  a  philanthropic  enterprise.  It  has  been  and 
is  remarkably  well  and  economically  managed.  1  he 
result  is  a  very  low  rate  of  insurance  as  well  as  a  safe 


ift;i  %iV^C''?t;:':>'\ 


326 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  327 

company.      It  has  never  been  appreciated  as  its  merits 
deserve. 

Without  interfering  with  this  form  of  insurance  work, 
in  1849  the  Old  School  Assembly  established  a  separate 
collection,  with  its  own  column  in  the  statistical  tables, 
and  to  be  disbursed  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly 
"  in  aiding  disabled  ministers  and  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  deceased  ministers."  In  1876  this  fund 
was  put  in  charge  of  a  regular  Board.  In  1887  the  en- 
dowment of  this  Board  was  taken  up  as  the  principal 
object  of  contribution  for  the  Centenary  fund.  At 
that  time  $606,266.25  was  contributed  for  the  purpose; 
this  was  added  to  the  permanent  fund  then  held  by 
the  Board.  The  total  of  Permanent  Endowment 
Funds  held  in  1891  was  $1,151,282.22.  The  annual 
contributions  of  the  Church  to  this  cause  during  the 
year  1891  were  $170,418,  furnishing-  relief  to  659  fam- 
ilies. The  persons  who  are  aided  from  this  fund,  on 
the  recommendation  of  their  Presbyteries,  are  not  only 
disabled  ministers,  but  the  widows  of  lay  missionaries 
and  their  orphan  children.  The  General  Assemblies 
of  1888  and  1889  instructed  the  Board  to  include  in 
the  list  of  those  who  had  claims  upon  its  funds,  "such 
female  missionaries  and  lay  missionaries  as  may  have 
become  disabled  in  the  service  of  the  Church."  The 
rapid  growth  of  the  missionary  work,  giving  employ- 
ment to  so  many  missionaries  other  than  ministers, 
made  the  justice  of  this  arrangement  manifest  on  its 
iirst  suggestion.  At  present  no  one  who  is  devoting 
his  life  to  the  service  of  the  Church,  either  as  a  min- 
ister, teacher  or  missionary,  under  the  Home  Board, 
the  Foreign  Board  or  the  Board  of  Freedmen,  is  ex- 
cluded from  the  care  of  the  Church. 


328  PRESBYTERIANS. 


THE    FREEDMEN  S    BOARD. 


The  duty  of  American  Christians  to  the  colored  peo- 
ple of  this  country  has  never  been  absent  from  the 
mind  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  To  find  out  practi- 
cal methods  of  performing  this  duty  has  always  been 
a  very  complicated  task.  The  missionary  enthusiasm, 
which  early  led  to  evangelical  work  among  the  Indians, 
would  quite  as  readily  have  gone  into  work  among  the 
colored  people,  except  for  the  fact  that  the  great 
majority  of  colored  people  were  slaves.  European 
Christendom  has  almost  throughout  all  history  been 
complicated  with  the  question  of  slavery,  and  the  Afri- 
can slave  trade  has  been  a  subject  for  debate  among 
statesmen,  for  treaties  among  nations  and  for  differ- 
ences of  opinion  among  philanthropists.  The  history 
of  that  question  in  this  country  is  marked  by  the  bit- 
terest animosity,  the  fiercest  invectives,  the  hottest  po- 
litical contests  and  the  bloodiest  wars.  Every  project 
was  confronted  with  difficulties  ;  and  every  scheme  for 
the  discharge  of  Christian  duty  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  slaves  on  the 
other,  had  its  embarrassments.  Previous  to  the  war 
of  1 86 1  Presbyterian  ministers  and  churchmen  in  the 
slaveholding  sections  sought  often  earnestly,  but 
sometimes  indifferently,  to  bring  to  these  people  the 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel.  In  i860  there  were  enrolled 
13,837  colored  communicants  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Before  the  war  had  lasted  any  length  of 
time  various  movements  were  set  on  foot  for  missions 
among  the  Freedmen,  who  had  gathered  around  the 
camps  of  the  army  and  its  various  fortified  places. 
One  of  these  volunteer  missionary  associations  had  its 


MISSIONS    AND    CHURCH    BOARDS. 


329 


headquarters  in  Indianapolis  and  another  in  Philadel- 
phia. Christians  were  feeling  their  way  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  meeting  their  responsibilities.  In  the  Old 
School  General  Assembly  in  1865  the  question  was 
discussed  and  a  committee  on  missions  for  Freed- 
men    was    appointed.      In    the    New     School    General 


BIDDI.E    UNIVERSITY,    CHARLOTTE,    N.    C 


Assembly  in  1865  similar  steps  were  taken;  and 
when  the  reunion  came,  in  1870,  this  work  was  put 
into  the  hands  of  a  board,  with  its  headquarters  at 
Pittsburgh.  It  has  not  merely  had  charge  of  the  work 
of  the  support  of  preachers,  but  the  charge  of  every 
form  of  missionary  work.  It  has  established  schools; 
it  has  educated  ministers  ;  it  has  commissioned  Bible- 
readers  and  evangelists.  To  every  form  of  work 
opened  to  its  laborers  among  the  Freedmen,  it  has 
given  earnest  attention  ;  and  upon  all  its  work  there  has 


330  PRESBYTERIANS. 

been  given  the  abundant  blessing  of  God,  and  the  cor- 
dial favor  of  the  colored  people  themselves.  It  may 
truthfully  be  said  that  every  school  is  so  crowded  with 
pupils  that  it  is  compelled  to  turn  away  applicants  for 
want  of  accommodations. 

The  aggregate  money  contributed  to  this  Board,  and 
administered  by  it  in  its  various  forms  of  work,  such 
as  salaries  of  laborers,  building  of  schools  and  churches, 
and  the  like,  amounts,  for  its  twenty-six  years,  to 
$1,836,026.21.  To  the  credit  of  the  colored  people 
gathered  in  these  various  church  organizations,  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  of  this  Board,  it  is  worthy  of 
record  that  they  have  steadily  grown  in  contributions 
until  now  their  gifts,  out  of  their  deep  poverty,  are 
examples  for  other  people.  While  the  sum  contrib- 
uted by  them  at  the  beginning  in  1865  amounted  to 
almost  nothing,  during  the  year  1891  it  amounted  to 
about  $50,000.  By  the  report  of  the  Board  made  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  1891,  and  audited  and  ap- 
proved by  the  committee  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
that  year,  the  expense  of  the  administration  of  this 
board  amounted  to  only  three  per  cent,  of  its  income. 

BOARD    OF    AID    FOR    COLLEGES    AND    ACADEMIES. 

The  high  standard  of  ministerial  qualifications  always 
insisted  upon  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  old 
country,  and  of  this,  made  ministers  and  people  of  ne- 
cessity the  friends  of  higher  education.  Parochial 
schools  for  common  school  education  were  a  part  of 
the  work  of  each  individual  congregation  previous  to 
the  organization  of  the  American  free  school  system. 
In  the  earliest  times  the  pastor  was,  to  a  considerable 
extent,   the    teacher  of   the  community  as  well  as  its 


MISSIONS    AND    CHURCH    BOARDS.  33 1 

preacher.  The  advantages  of  a  public  school  system 
were  pressed  upon  society  by  the  manifest  benefits  of 
church  schools.  The  various  States,  as  part  of  the 
state  government,  at  length  took  this  form  of  church 
work  as  a  state  duty.  Now  secularists  seek  to  exclude 
the  Bible  from  that  school  system  which  the  Bible 
created  by  its  influence  on  its  friends. 

Early  log  colleges  were  instituted  by  ministers  who 
wished  to  have  some  place  to  teach  the  boys  of  their 
region  such  knowledge  as  might  prepare  them  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  As  was  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
Board  of  Education,  this  work  was  given  special  form 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  1819.  It  was  then  ex- 
pected that  both  methods  of  promoting  ministerial 
education  :  the  aid  of  indigent  students  in  meeting  the 
expenses  of  their  education,  as  well  as  the  aid  of  the 
weaker  communities  in  establishing  suitable  institutions 
of  learning  would  be  committed  to  this  Board.  To 
establish  schools  of  learning  large  sums  of  money  are 
needed.  When  the  Board  of  Education  was  beginning 
its  work,  large  sums  were  difficult  to  obtain.  While 
church  collections  were  small,  it  was  possible  for  that 
Board  to  aid  many  a  young  man  in  fitting  himself  for 
the  ministry  ;  he  would  need  only  fifty  or  one  hundred 
dollars  per  year  more  than  he  himself  had  to  go  on  in 
his  work.  By  the  nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  more 
people  were  interested  in  the  work  of  helping  students 
than  in  the  work  of  building  and  endowing  colleges  in 
other  neighborhoods  than  their  own.  For  the  year 
1844,  and  for  many  years  onward,  much  attention,  on 
the  part  of  the  Old  School  General  Assembly,  was  given 
to  the  matter  of  "parochial  schools."  It  was  the  sup- 
position   then   that   these  would   be  started   and   main- 


332  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tained  by  all  the  better  congregations  throughout  the 
Church.  It  was  expected  that  the  more  useful  and 
promising  of  them  would,  in  their  own  communities, 
find  means  to  enlarge  themselves  into  either  academies 
or  female  seminaries.  Some  were  expected  to  become 
colleges  and  universities.  Under  the  administration  of 
Dr.  Cortlandt  Van  Rensselaer,  as  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  this  work  of  parochial  schools  was  pushed 
to  great  importance.  The  demand  of  the  Church, 
however,  was  for  money  to  aid  students  ;  and  the  lack 
of  public  interest  in  funds  for  parochial  schools  left  the 
cause,  after  his  death,  to  drop  into  decided  neglect. 

By  1877  so  loud  a  call  was  heard  from  the  Home 
Board,  through  its  missionaries,  for  "  some  plan  which 
should  result  in  the  better  endowment  of  our  institu- 
tions and  some  system  for  the  aid  of  colleges,"  that  a 
special  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  this  gen- 
eral subject  and  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 
The  subject  was  continued,  the  committee  enlarged 
and  various  additional  duties  assigned  to  it  by  the  As- 
semblies of  1878,  1879  and  1880.  They  made  their  final 
report  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1883.  Wide  cor- 
respondence by  the  committee,  and  a  fair  study  of  the 
whole  subject  of  higher  education,  both  in  Europe  and 
in  this  country,  led  the  committee  to  the  unanimous 
conviction  that  the  Church  needed  a  "  separate  and 
special  agency  for  the  direction  and  enlargement  of 
this  work."  The  report  of  the  committee  was  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  General  Assembly.  This  sought 
to  "  promote  institutions  that  should  have  as  their  aim 
the  education  of  the  whole  man  by  colleges  pervaded 
by  a  positive  Christian  atmosphere,  and  that  should 
make  the   Bible  one  of  the  text-books,  with  all  the  in- 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  333 

struction  in  harmony  with  the  Christian  faith,  and  the 
influence  on  the  students  in  favor  of  the  ministry  as  a 
life-work  rather  than  away  from  it."  On  the  principle 
that  anything-  worth  doing  is  worth  doing  well  and  by  a 
system,  the  Board  of  Aid  for  Colleges  was  created  to 
aid  in  the  location  of  colleges  and  in  arousing;  the 
Church  to  the  vastness  of  this  work.  Money  had  been 
wasted  in  local  competitions,  and  this  was  to  be  a 
remedy  for  that  waste. 

The  Board  was  located  from  the  outset  in  Chicago, 
and  has  given  great  originality  of  resource  and  skill  of 
adaptation    to    the    carrying   on  of  its  work.     This   is 
obvious  when   the  fact  is  stated  that  there  has  gone, 
through  its  influence,  to  institutions  under  its  care  the 
sum  of  $582,597.35   in  eight  years.      But  this  does  not 
state  the  total  result  of  its  activity.     The  other  part  of 
its  work    it  is  impossible  precisely  to    state  in  figures. 
For  example,  very  much  of  its  work  is  done  in  the  com- 
munity where,  with   its  co-operation,  a  new  institution 
is  to  be  established.     The  very  fact  of  the  approval  of 
the   enterprise,  by  the   secretaries  and  members  of  the 
Board  of  Aid  for  Colleges  and  Academies,  gives  such 
courage  to  a  local   community  that,  in   order  to  secure 
the  moderate  sum  the  Board   is  able  to  raise  among  its 
friends  and   contributors,  three  or  four  times  as  much 
will  be  contributed  to   the   institution  by  its  own  neigh- 
borhood as  would  otherwise  be  given.      Then,  after  a 
community  has  shown  its  liberality  and  appreciation  by 
handsomely  doing  its  own  duty,  the  Board  is  often  able 
to  secure  from  liberal  givers  other  large  donations  to 
the  institution   thus  discreetly  located.      These   contri- 
butions from  the  community,  and  these  other  large  con- 
tributions of  liberal  givers,  go  directly  to  the  college,  and 


MISSIONS   AND    CHURCH    BOARI>>.  335 

do  not  pass  through  the  treasury  of  the  Board.  Exact 
figures  cannot  be  given,  for  much  is  given  in  real  estate 
and  labor.  Any  statement  of  amounts,  therefore,  could 
only  be  general  estimates  of  "money  value  secured 
through  the  assistance  of  the  Board."  But  a  fair  esti- 
mate would  show  that  the  Board  has  in  this  way  brought 
to  institutions  under  the  control  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  a  vast  amount  of  property  in  addition  to  the 
money  above  given  as  passing  through  its  own  imme- 
diate treasury. 

The  work  of  this  Board,  perhaps  more  than  that  of 
any  other,  requires  time  to  develop  confidence  and 
secure  larofe  contributions.  These  institutions  of  learn- 
ing  are  oftentimes  matters  of  slow  growth.  As  evidence 
of  this  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  oldest  Presbyterian 
institution,  Princeton  College,  for  the  first  hundred 
years  of  its  history  was  never  able  to  maintain  a  faculty 
of  more  than  five  professors.  Its  present  great  enlarge- 
ment is  comparatively  recent.  The  first  plan  of  this 
Board  of  Aid  was  to  map  out  the  various  sections  of 
the  Church,  and  allow  the  institutions,  in  the  person  of 
their  own  agents,  to  canvass  these  assigned  districts  in 
solicitation  of  funds.  Experience  soon  proved,  how- 
ever, that  ofivers  knew  the  Board  and  its  secretaries 
better  than  they  knew- the  agents  of  these  institutions. 
In  more  recent  times,  therefore,  the  Board  has  come 
to  know  the  large  givers  that  believe  in  the  Board's 
officers  and  trust  their  judgment.  For  several  years 
the  Board  has  declined  to  assign  any  field  for  others  to 
canvass.  It  has  found  it  to  be  more  satisfactory  for 
the  Board's  officers  themselves  to  visit  their  friends. 
and  lay  before  them  the  opportunities  for  doing  good 
through  various  colleges. 


336  PRESBYTERIANS. 

To  Presbyterians  now  it  seems  like  the  greatest  pos- 
sible misfortune  that  the  Church  so  long  delayed  this 
work  of  molding  and  directing  the  generosity  of  its 
living  people  and  the  bequests  of  its  dying  membership 
in  this  matter  of  the  establishment  and  endowment 
of  academies,  female  seminaries  and  colleges.  Theo- 
logical institutions  have  been  established  in  numbers 
quite  adequate  to  the  demand,  and  quite  accessible  to 
all  sections  of  the  Church.  But  the  manufacturing 
establishment  which  sets  up  its  plant,  irrespective  of  the 
supply  of  the  raw  material  to  be  found  in  its  vicinity, 
may  have  a  very  good  factory  but  nothing  to  do.  The 
theological  seminary  needs  students,  if  it  is  to  be  a 
success.  The  work  of  furnishing  the  students,  by 
organizing  the  feeders  and  equipping  colleges  for  their 
work,  is  the  particular  enterprise  in  which  this  Board  is 
admirably  succeeding. 

PERMANENT    COMMITTEES SYSTEMATIC    BENEFICENCE. 

Many  important  subjects  have  such  a  constant  value 
that  they  always  need  attention.  These  may  help  every 
other  good  cause,  and  yet  may  not  have  a  field  where 
large  sums  of  money  seem  to  be  required.  For  such  ob- 
jects as  these  the  General  Assembly  has  been  appoint- 
ing what  are  called  "  Permanent  Committees."  These 
permanent  committees  have  some  special  field  assigned 
them,  and  their  officers  and  members  usually  serve  with- 
out pay.  Their  only  expenses,  therefore,  are  the  publi- 
cation of  documents,  the  gathering  of  statistics  and 
such  minor  incidental  items.  Many  causes  have  been 
brought  before  the  Assembly  by  their  friends,  and 
permanent  committees,  to  have  charge  of  their  interests, 
have  been  petitioned  for  or  suggested.      The  subject  of 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  337 

International  Peace  and  Arbitration  is  one  of  these. 
Though  this  has  always  had  the  sympathy  of  the  Church, 
it  has  not  seemed  to  the  General  Assembly  necessary  to 
appoint  a  permanent  committee  on  such  a  subject.  On 
two  points,  however,  such  permanent  committees  have 
been  appointed,  and  are  now  efficiently  at  work.  The 
oldest  of  these  is  the  Special  Committee  on  Systema- 
tic Beneficence.  This  was  organized  in  1879.  It  will 
be  seen  by  the  past  history  of  "  Missions  and  Church 
Boards  "  that  every  one  of  them  is  so  wonderfully  suc- 
ceeding that  its  work  demands  far  more  money  than  its 
treasury  receives.  It  is  not  the  belief  of  the  Church 
that  this  lack  of  funds  is  owing  to  lack  of  wealth 
among  the  membership,  or  pity  for  a  dying  world,  or 
love  for  the  Master  or  an  earnest  desire  to  promote 
the  coming  of  Christ's  Kingdom.  What  seems  to  be 
needed  is,  that  there  should  be  system  in  giving,  as 
well  as  system  in  expending.  A  very  large  portion  of 
the  Church  believes  that  the  legal  requirement  of  the 
Old  Testament  economy  was  a  good  example  for  New 
Testament  Christians.  The  method  of  Tithing  then  es- 
tablished by  divine  law  was  the  system  of  contribution 
laid  down  for  that  age  of  the  world.  Some  system 
should  be  adopted  by  each  Christian  in  the  present  age. 
There  are  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  present  bind- 
ing obligation  of  the  law  of  titlics ;  but  few  would  un- 
dertake to  show  that  with  the  enlargement  of  the 
New  Testament  dispensation,  there  came  a  narrowing 
and  diminishing  of  the  divine  call  of  God's  cause  upon 
His  redeemed  people. 

The  importance  which  this  subject  of  Systematic 
Giving  has  held  in  the  mind  of  the  Church  is  indicated 
by  the   various  projects  which  at  different  times  have 


338  PRESBYTERIANS. 

been  submitted.  At  the  time  of  the  reunion  a  serious 
effort  was  made  to  organize  a  committee  which  should 
be  the  Financial  Board  of  the  Church,  and  whose  treas- 
urer should  act  as  treasurer  for  all  the  Boards. 
The  plea  for  this  was  that  it  was  an  expensive  way  of 
doing  business  to  require  each  Board- to  maintain  a 
treasury  system  of  its  own.  The  theory  carried  great 
weight  with  the  Church  when  it  was  first  proposed. 
But  as  first  proposed,  this  was  to  be  a  Committee  of 
Benevolence  and  Finance,  and  to  some  extent  was  to 
apportion  the  contributions  of  the  churches  among  the 
various  causes.  This  was  strenuously  objected  to. 
Givers  insisted  upon  their  right  to  direct  their  own 
gifts.  The  Boards  wanted  direct  access  to  the  people 
in  their  own  behalf. 

But  that  Committee  of  Benevolence  and  Finance 
showed  how  great  was  the  need  of  education  in  the 
matter  of  giving  both  in  the  measure  and  the  methods. 
To  a  lar^e  extent  contributions  had  been  matters  of 
emotion,  to  be  stirred  up  by  some  perfervid  appeal  for 
a  collection  taken  just  then.  What  the  Bible  calls  for, 
and  what  the  Church  wanted,  was  that  giving  should 
be  intelligent,  prayerful,  intentional,  and  performed 
regardless  of  the  weather,  or  the  appeal,  or  sickness,  or 
absence  from  home  on  "collection  day."  The  result, 
therefore,  was  this  Permanent  Committee  on  Sys- 
tematic Benevolence.  Under  its  leadership  "The 
Directory  for  Worship  "  was  amended  in  1886  by  the 
insertion  of  Chapter  VI,  "Of  the  Worship  of  God  by 
Offerings."  Theoretically,  therefore,  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  "taking  up  a  collection  for  the  Boards" 
is  no  longer  an  odious  interruption  of  the  Sabbath  serv- 
ice, to  be  slurred  over    by  pastors,   and  neglected  by 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  339 

the  people  as  the  Nickel-Plate  Narrow-Gauge  Collec- 
tion, where  buttons  are  sometimes  dropped  into  the 
plate  by  sinners,  to  give  motion  to  the  hands  in  the 
eyes  of  men,  and  save  money  to  the  bank  account  ;  but 
so  far  as  the  Church  can  make  it,  by  the  most  solemn 
and  formal  assertion  of  its  official  books  of  worship  and 
its  highest  judicatories,  it  is  a  regular  act  of  worship 
like  prayer,  singing  and  preaching.  The  financial  op- 
erations of  the  Church  can  only  be  maintained  by  ad- 
equate system  and  intelligent  consecration  of  property 
as  well  as  of  person.  The  Boards  now  expend  not 
over  five  per  cent,  of  their  income  for  their  office 
expenses,  counting  treasurer's  and  secretaries'  salaries, 
clerk  hire,  printing  bills,  traveling  expenses  and  all. 
And  the  total  financial  transactions  of  these  Boards 
each  year  now  amount  to  millions  of  dollars.  For  the 
year  1891  the  total  financial  footings  of  the  Church 
reached  the  magnificent  sum  of  $13,961,211.  Of  this, 
$9,664,279  was  congregational,  such  as  church  build- 
ings, pastors' salaries  and  contingencies,  and  $4,296,932 
was  for  benevolence. 

This  cause  of  systematic  giving,  as  well  as  the  work 
of  the  permanent  committee  itself,  has  been  greatly 
promoted  by  a  member  of  the  committee  who  is  by  the 
Church  better  known  under  the  name  of  "  Layman  " 
than  he  is  by  his  own  name  of  Thomas  Kane  of 
Chicago.  Making  a  specialty  of  the  relation  of  busi- 
ness people  to  benevolent  contributions,  and  using  the 
printing  press  with  unbounded  liberality,  he  has  brought 
this  Christian  duty  to  the  attention  not  only  of  every 
minister  and  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  to 
a  very  large  proportion  of  her  membership.  After 
seeking  in  writing  the  experience  of  a  large  number  <>f 


340  PRESBYTERIANS. 

systematic  givers,  he  has  printed  these  "  Experiences," 
and  offers  to  send  them  gratis  to  all  who  apply.  The 
annual  report  of  this  committee  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly is  one  of  its  important  features.  Its  annual  survey 
of  the  work  of  the  Church  in  the  matter  of  benevolence 
is  at  once  a  most  instructive  and  stimulating  part  of 
the  Assembly  meeting.  This  committee  now  publishes 
a  small  four-page  monthly  newspaper,  devoted  to  the 
discussion  of  these  duties,  measures  and  methods  of 
charity  to  man  and  interest-paying  to  God.  It  is 
called  The  Christian  Steward. 

PERMANENT    COMMITTEE    ON    TEMPERANCE. 

This  committee  was  established  in  1881,  and  its 
duties  as  then  assigned  were  "to  seek  to  quicken  and 
unite  our  Synods  and  Churches  in  suitable  measures 
for  promoting  the  temperance  reform  ;  to  mature  and 
report  action  on  this  subject  to  the  General  Assembly." 
In  1886  the  headquarters  of  the  committee,  which  were 
at  first  in  New  York  and  afterward  at  Philadelphia, 
were  transferred  to  Pittsburgh.  It  is  the  recognized 
representative  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  wide- 
spread temperance  movement  on  the  part  of  all  Chris- 
tian denominations  throughout  the  world.  Presbyte- 
rians are  conspicuous  and  efficient  co-laborers  with 
other  Christian  people  in  all  interdenominational  tem- 
perance movements.  They  are  active  in  the  support 
and  work  of  the  National  Temperance  Society,  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  other  sim- 
ilar associations.  One  of  the  tracts  published  by  the 
Temperance  Committee  is  a  statement  of  the  "  Deliver- 
ances of  the  General  Assembly "  upon  that  subject. 
This    shows  from   the  early   minutes   how  alert   early 


MISSIONS   AND   CHURCH    BOARDS.  34I 

Presbyterians  were  to  these  evils  ;  and  how  in  all  her 
history  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  felt  the  power  of 
liquor  as  an  obstacle  to  the  Gospel.  "  The  liquor 
traffic  is  the  efficient  promoter  of  Sabbath  desecra- 
tion, licentiousness,  profanity,  violence  and  general  dis- 
order. And  it  has  often  assumed  to  control  municipal 
and  State  governments  for  its  own  protection.  To 
this  destructive  influence  and  menacing  attitude  the 
Presbyterian  Church  has  never  been  indifferent.  To 
this  gigantic  evil  she  has  opposed  herself  with  her  early 
temperance  utterances,  her  vast  financial  resources,  her 
aggressive,  far-reaching  missionary  work,  and  the  fear- 
less and  uncompromising  character  of  her  ministry." 

As  in  the  Home  work,  the  Foreign  work,  the  Freed- 
men's  work  so  in  the  Temperance  work,  the  women  of 
the  Church  have  organized  themselves  to  do  their  part  in 
aid  of  the  general  cause.  Very  many  of  these  women 
of  the  Church  were  already  active  in  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  but  many  of  them  felt 
that  in  some  organization  among  themselves  they 
should,  as  Presbyterians,  co-operate  with  the  committee 
in  this  great  reform  movement.  The  General  As- 
sembly at  Detroit,  in  1891,  gave  this  work  of  the  women 
its  cordial  approbation,  as  the  Assembly  has  ever  been 
ready  to  indorse  any  movement  to  antagonize  this 
most  gigantic  evil  of  our  times.  The  temperance 
committee  has  done  a  great  work  in  unifying  and 
strengthening  public  sentiment,  and  has  done  this 
work  almost  without  resources.  Its  only  income  is 
from  the  collections  of  a  few  churches,  and  the  larger 
contributions  of  its  special  friends.  The  whole  sum 
for  1891  was  but  $1171.55,  and  yet  with  that,  there 
were  distributed   more   than   one  million  pages  of  tern- 


342  PRESBYTERIANS. 

perance  documents.  A  small  library  was  sent  to  a 
temperance  society  in  Bankok,  Siam,  and  money  was 
given  the  Spanish  tract  work  at  Albuquerque,  N. 
M.,  to  print  12,000  copies  of  one  of  Dr.  Talmage's 
sermons  on  temperance  translated  into  Spanish. 

THE  CHURCH  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

One  very  vital  part  of  the  work  of  carrying  on  these 
great  benevolent  enterprises  is  accomplished  by  the 
monthly  Presbyterian  magazine  The  Church  at  Home 
and  Abroad.  No  great  project  can  succeed  which  does 
not  keep  its  work  and  wants  before  the  public.  Its 
friends  must  know  what  is  going  on  and  what  are  the 
needs,  and  the  indifferent  must  be  awakened  to  duty 
by  knowledge.  This  had  led  several  of  the  interdenomin- 
ational missionary  societies  to  publish  periodicals,  and 
had  induced  an  early  Assembly  to  found  a  publication 
for  the  dissemination  of  missionary  information.  Vari- 
ous publications  were  started  by  the  Boards  until  they 
became  so  numerous  that  there  was  at  length  a  demand 
for  their  consolidation.  Pastors  were  not  willing  to 
canvass  for  so  many  different  papers,  and  they  did  not 
wish  to  shut  out  any.  Some  of  the  periodicals  had 
been  published  at  a  loss  to  the  board  that  issued  them. 
Many  believed  that  the  Church  would  have  its  denom- 
inational enthusiasm  stirred  by  having  a  magazine  of 
its  own.  The  whole  subject  was  examined  in  detail  at 
the  Assembly  of  1886  on  the  report  of  a  committee 
in  regard  to  the  matter.  This  committee  had  been 
appointed  some  years  before  and  had  offered  several 
reports  to  previous  Assemblies.  The  members  had 
studied  and  corresponded  with  others  on  the  subject, 
until   they  had   fairly   covered   the  whole  field.      After 


MISSIONS   AM)    CHURCH    BOARDS.  343 

full  consideration  the  Assembly  voted  to  consolidate 
the  periodicals  then  existing-,  and  issue  one  to  represent 
all  the  interests  of  the  Church.  A  publishing-  committee 
was  appointed  and  the  work  was  begun  in  January  of 
1887.  The  committee  was  very  judicious  in  the  selec- 
tion of  an  editor.  They  intrusted  that  work  to  Rev. 
H.  A.  Nelson,  D.  D.  He  was  well  known,  had  held 
high  places  in  the  affections  of  the  people,  was  of  a 
most  kindly  and  conciliatory  disposition,  and  well  knew 
the  work  and  history  of  the  denomination. 

The  subscription  list  has  never  gone  up  to  the  figures 
that  the  friends  of  the  plan  had  a  right,  from  the 
answers  to  their  overtures,  to  expect  from  the  Presby- 
teries. The  request  had  been  made  from  the  Assembly 
to  the  Presbyteries  to  send  up  their  information  and 
wishes,  and  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  an  earnest  desire 
for  a  paper  giving  the  whole  church  news  in  one  docu- 
ment. The  subscription  list  has  been  about  30,000. 
The  plan  was  a  difficult  one  to  carry  out  as  at  first 
adopted.  Thinking  that  the  acceptance  of  advertise- 
ments, however  good  an(j  useful,  was  beneath  the  dig-- 
nity  of  such  a  church  periodical,  no  income  was  sought 
or  derived  from  that  kind  of  revenue.  But  those  who 
object  to  religious  papers  inserting  advertisements  are 
not  willing  to  pay  the  additional  price  which  is  involved 
in  their  pride.  It  is  right  hard  to  say  to  a  publishing 
committee,  "you  must  make  the  magazine  self-sustain- 
ing, and  yet  do  it  without  such  income  as  other  like 
periodicals  enjoy.  You  must  keep  the  price  down, 
and  at  the  same  time  cut  off  legitimate  sources  of 
revenue." 

The  magazine  has  been  a  periodical  of  great  merit. 
Monthly  it  brings   the  whole   church    work   before    the 


344  PRESBYTERIANS. 

readers,  and  no  one  can  read  it  without  having  a  full 
knowledge  of  what  is  being  done  by  the  church  machin- 
ery, and  also  a  good  knowledge  of  what  other  denom- 
inations are  doing.  It  is  able  and  thoughtful  in  a  high 
degree.  Its  files  are  themselves  a  diary  of  the  King- 
dom of  God  and  its  progress  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES    AND    CHURCH    UNITY. 

THE  discovery  of  printing  fifty  years  before  the 
Reformation  was  the  providential  preparation  for 
the  success  of  Protestantism.  Presbyterianism  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  has  always  been  a  vigorous  pro- 
moter of  books  and  reading.  Catechisms  for  the  young 
have  abounded  among  her  people.  Oral  discourse  is 
interesting  but  transient.  The  printed  book  can  be 
studied  carefully  and  constantly  re-read.  Newspapers 
are  the  modern  device  for  the  rapid  circulation  of  the 
best  thought.  The  first  book  printed  was  the  Bible  ; 
and  religious  tracts  and  books  have  formed  a  lar^e 
part  of  the  issue  of  the  press  ever  since. 

Weekly  religious  newspapers  began  in  this  country 
about  the  opening  of  the  present  century.  Previous  to 
that  time,  religious  periodicals  were  monthly  journals. 
The  first  secular  newspaper  was  published  September 
25,  1690.  In  1800  it  is  recorded  that  there  were  about 
two  hundred  newspapers  published  in  the  United 
States.  Dr.  Dorchester,  in  "  Christianity  in  America," 
says  :  "  The  first  religious  newspaper  published  in  Am- 
erica, and  probably  in  the  world,  was  the  Boston  Re- 
corder. It  was  issued  January  3,  1 816.  Within  the  next 
twenty-five  years  almost  every  denomination  in  America 
had  its  own  religious  paper."  This  claim  that  the  first 
religious  newspaper  was  the  Boston  Recorder  is  probably 
not  well  supported.      At   Chillicothe,  O.,  July  5,  18 14, 

345 


34-6  PRESBYTERIANS. 

(eighteen  months  before  the  issue  of  the  Boston  paper), 
there  was  published  The  Recorder.  This  Chillicothe 
Recorder  was  removed  to  Pittsburgh  in  1822,  and  under 
various  names  has  been  issued  in  that  city  ever  since. 
Its  present  legal  successor  is  The  Presbyterian  Banner. 
This  claim  of  being  "  The  Oldest  Religious  Newspaper  " 
has  been  successfully  maintained  by  that  paper  against 
all  opponents  for  years,  as  its  files  show  its  regular 
title  by  various  purchases  of  all  the  traditions  and  good 
will  of  that  original  Recorder,  of  Chillicothe,  O.  Other 
secular  papers  had  previously  published  more  or  less 
religious  intelligence,  and  some  had  regularly  given  a 
column  or  more  of  such  items ;  but  none  had  taken  the 
modern  form  of  a  paper  devoted  to  religion,  and  dis- 
cussing secular  affairs  from  a  religious  standpoint.  Be- 
ginning as  the  Recorder,  of  Chillicothe,  this  paper  has 
at  various  times  been  The  Spectator,  The  Christian 
Herald,  The  Presbyterian  Advocate  and  The  Presby- 
terian Banner. 

There  are  at  present  eleven  weekly  religious  papers 
which  are  distinctively  Presbyterian.  There  is  one 
monthly  organ  of  the  denomination,  The  Church  at 
Home  and  Abroad,  and  one  Quarterly  Reviezu.  These 
are  in  addition  to  the  various  monthlies,  semi-monthlies 
and  quarterlies  published  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Publication,  in  the  interest  of  general  religion  and  espe- 
cially of  Sabbath-school  work. 

There  is  no  law  prohibiting  anybody  from  starting  a 
religious  newspaper.  The  cost  of  the  plant,  types, 
presses  and  other  material,  is  not  more  than  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  dollars.  The  real  expense  is  in  main- 
taining the  life  of  the  paper  until  it  secures  circulation 
enough  to   make  its  publication  pay.      Various  quarter- 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        347 

lies,  monthlies,  weeklies  and  dailies  have  at  different 
times  been  started  in  different  cities  of  the  country.  A 
weekiy  religious  paper,  with  a  paying  subscription  list 
of  ten  thousand  subscribers  and  over,  is  a  very  valuable 
piece  of  property.  In  the  market  such  a  religious  paper 
is  worth  from  fifty  thousand  to  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  according  to  location  and  patronage.  Six  of 
the  religious  weeklies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are 
very  valuable  and  very  profitable  enterprises.  During 
the  division  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Schools  the 
New  York  Observer,  the  Presbyterian  of  Phila- 
delphia and  the  Presbyterian  Banner  of  Pittsburgh, 
were  Old  School  papers  ;  the  New  York  Evangelist 
was  New  School.  The  Herald  and  Presbyter  of 
Cincinnati  is  the  result  of  a  union  between  the  two 
papers  which  had  represented  the  two  denominations 
in  that  city,  and  which  were  united  on  the  reunion  of 
the  two  denominations.  The  Interior  was  started 
by  the  Presbyterians  of  Chicago,  as  a  result  of  reunion. 
The  Presbyterian  Journal  of  Philadelphia,  the 
Mid-Continent  of  St.  Louis,  the  Central  West  of 
Omaha,  and  the  Northwestern  Presbyterian  of  Min- 
neapolis and  the  Occident  of  San  Francisco  have  all 
been  started  since  the  reunion.  The  Central  West 
and  the  Northwestern  Presbyterian  have  been  recently 
consolidated  under  the  name  of  The  NortJi  and  West 
and  is  published  at  Minneapolis,  Omaha,  St.  Paul  and 
Detroit.  The  Africo-American  Presbyterian  of  Char- 
lotte, N.  C,  is  published  by  the  Presbyterian  Freed- 
men  in  the  interests  of  the  colored  people  of 
the  South.  The  total  weekly  circulation  of  these 
twelve  religious  papers,  as  given  in  "  Rowell's  Ameri- 
can   Newspaper    Directory"   for    1891,   is    about    125,- 


348  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ooo.  During  the  year  1890-91  the  Board  of  Publica- 
tion and  Sabbath  School  work  aggregated  a  total  of 
22,686,649  publications.  The  Presbyterian  monthlies 
of  the  individual  churches  and  the  Quarterly  Review 
are  not  included  in  any  of  these  figures.  Well-in- 
formed newspaper  men  assert  that  there  is  no  Church 
doing  so  large  a  newspaper  business  as  the  Presby- 
terian. 

In  no  position  does  an  individual  exert  a  larger  in- 
fluence than  as  an  editor  of  a  newspaper.  The 
preacher  who  has  an  audience  of  two  thousand  per- 
sons is  supposed  to  have  a  wide  field.  Investigations 
show  that  it  is  fair  to  estimate  that  the  readers  of  each 
family  newspaper,  counting  the  members  of  the  family 
and  the  people  outside  of  the  family  who  borrow  the 
paper,  will  amount  to  five  readers  to  each  subscription. 
A  subscription  list  of  2500  is  estimated  by  newspaper 
men  as  a  comparatively  small  list  ;  but  the  editor  of 
that  paper  would  have  a  weekly  aiidienee  of  more  than 
ten  thousand  readers.  Any  policy  for  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  upon  which  the  newspapers  are  united,  is 
pretty  certain  to  be  adopted  by  the  whole  Church. 
On  questions  on  which  the  newspapers  disagree,  their 
columns  are  the  best  place  for  effective  discussion. 
These  discussions  are  sometimes  charged  with  being 
bitter  and  the  result  of  newspaper  jealousy.  Editors 
are  not  easily  hurt  in  their  feelings  by  able  or  aggres- 
sive replies  to  their  own  arguments.  They  are  accus- 
tomed to  striking  hard  blows,  and  are  ready  to  take 
the  same  in  response,  when  called  upon.  They  are 
always  anxious  to  open  their  columns  to  the  ablest 
writers,  and  it  does  not  often  occur  that  the  debates  in 
the  General  Assembly  bring  forward  anything  new,  on 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        349 

subjects  which  have  already  been  discussed  by  the  re- 
ligious press.  Newspaper  writers  have  this  advantage 
over  speakers  in  deliberative  bodies.  The  writer 
quietly  sits  in  his  study,  surrounded  by  his  library  of 
authorities,  and  can  take  time  to  guard  and  reconsider 
his  positions  and  his  arguments.  In  deliberative 
bodies  the  speaker  must  "go  on"  without  time  or 
opportunity  to  verify  his-  recollections,  or  compact  his 
arguments,  or  make  sure  that  his  conclusions  grow  in- 
evitably from  the  facts  presented.  The  most  efficient 
assistance  that  pastors  and  Christian  workers  can  have 
is  to  be  found  in  the  religious  newspapers.  It  is  a 
good  work  for  any  good  cause  to  try  to  secure  a  weekly 
religious  paper  in  every  family. 

PHILANTHROPIES. 

From  the  outset  Presbyterians  have  been  interested 
in  all  forms  of  philanthropic  work.  They  have  been 
specially  careful  of  their  own  orphans,  aged,  sick  or 
afflicted  ministers  and  their  families.  It  is  only  in  com- 
paratively recent  years,  that  this  philanthropic  feeling 
has,  in  the  larger  cities,  taken  the  form  of  "  Homes  for 
the  Aged,"  "  Orphanages  for  Neglected  Children  "  and 
"  Hospitals  for  the  Sick."  To  equip  and  maintain  such 
institutions,  a  large  amount  of  money  is  required. 
Such  charities  are  chiefly  needed  in  the  large  commer- 
cial centers.  These  institutions  in  these  centers  supply 
the  needs  for  large  districts  in  their  vicinity,  and  arc- 
able  to  command  the  highest  medical  skill  and  the  best 
attendance  which  money  can  attract. 

Generally,  Presbyterians  combine  with  charitable 
people  of  all  denominations,  and  of  no  denomination,  in 
this    public    work.      Even    where    they   establish    such 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY. 


I5i 


philanthropies,  the  institutions  are  Presbyterian  only 
in  their  support  and  management,  and  not  in  the  ob- 
jects which  they  seek  to  relieve.  In  some  denomina- 
tions, such  forms  of  work  have  long  been  a  special 
preference.  In  many  places  other  denominations  man- 
age the  so-called  United  Charities,  and  Presbyterians 
contribute  the  money  for  their  support.  More  and 
more  the  inclination  among  the  wealthier  Presby- 
terians is,  either  during  lifetime  or  by  bequest,  to 
establish  such  institutions.  The  only  safe  plan  for  the 
benevolent  donor  is  to  establish  them  while  he  is  alive 
and  able  to  manage  his  own  outlay,  and  so  see  that  it 
is  put  in  satisfactory  shape.  Either  way,  however,  is 
to  be  preferred  to  expensive  monuments  in  a  lonesome 
cemetery,  which  few  see,  except  the  other  mourners 
who  are  visiting  the  graves  of  their  own  dead. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  these  philanthropic  organiza- 
tions in  the  various  cities  where  they  are  located.  In 
them  Presbyterians  from  abroad,  as  well  as  from  all 
parts  of  our  own  country,  have  found  a  comfortable 
shelter,  good  nursing  and  excellent  medical  attendance 
when  suffering  from  accident  or  disease.  The  dates  of 
their  opening  are  given,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained, 
and  the  order  is  geographical  rather  than  chronologi- 
cal : 


Home  for  Aged  Women,  New  York 

Presbyterian  Hospital,  New  York 

Home  for  Aged  Couples,  Philadelphia 

Presbyterian     Home    for    Widows    and    Single 

Women,  Philadelphia 

Presbyterian  Orphanage,  Philadelphia 

Seaside  Home,  Cape  May  Point 


PRI IPBB  I  v. 


WHEN 

OPENED. 


[;299,000  1866 

875,000  1868 

2  5,000  [885 

450,000  l872 

U3»254  l378 

20,000  1879 


352  PRESBYTERIANS. 


Lady  Kortright's Convalescent  Home,  Devon,  Pa. 

Presbyterian  Hospital,  Philadelphia 

Presbyterian  Eye,  Ear  and  Throat  Hospital, 
Baltimore,  Md 

Presbyterian  Hospital,  Woman's  Medical  Col- 
lege, Cincinnati 

Presbyterian  Hospital,  Chicago,  Endowment. . . . 

Presbyterian  Hospital,  Omaha,  Rented  Buildings 


PROPERTY. 


WHEN 
OPENED. 


$III,600      .... 
1,500,000     I87I 

100,000     l877 

25,000     189O 

i55>o8i|     l883 
1890 


The  file  of  the  reports  of  these  noble  institutions  is 
a  magnificent  showing  in  behalf  of  the  philanthropy 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  although  property  esti- 
mates are  of  necessity  very  indefinite  and  no  estimate  is 
given  of  the  Chicago  Hospital.  In  her  organized  capac- 
ity the  Church  has  established  at  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.,a 
"  Home  for  Disabled  Ministers."  It  is  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  managed  by  the  Board 
of  Ministerial  Relief.  Close  by  the  sea,  it  enjoys  the 
invigorating  atmosphere  of  the  shore,  and  is  a  safe 
harbor  which  kindly  Christian  hands  and  hearts  have 
provided  for  those  who  have  worn  themselves  out  in 
the  service  of  the  Church  and  the  Master. 

CHURCH    UNITY. 

The  charge  is  constantly  made  by  Arminians  and 
the  outside  world,  in  antagonism  to  Calvinism,  that  it 
is  a  very  narrow  and  illiberal  style  of  religion.  In  one 
of  the  hospitals  just  named,  out  of  the  inmates  seven- 
ty-four in  every  hundred  came  from  the  Methodists,  the 
Catholics  and  the  Lutherans,  while  only  eight  were  Pres- 
byterians. The  Jews,  Unitarians  and  Friends  helped  to 
make  up  the  rest.  This  peculiarity,  also,  of  Calvinism 
should   not  be  overlooked,  namely,  that  the  denomina- 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        353 

tions  that  hold  it  are  among-  the  most  cordial  of  all 
religious  sects  in  their  co-operation  with  other  evan- 
gelical Christians.  Whether  from  the  Presbyterian- 
ism  of  its  Form  of  Government,  or  the  Calvinism 
of  its  Confession  of  Faith,  no  denomination  unites 
more  heartily  in  the  interdenominational  movements 
of  the  Christian  world  than  does  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  At  the  very  organization  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  the  Presbyterian  Church,  through  its 
General  Assembly,  cordially  indorsed  that  religious 
enterprise.  Through  all  its  history,  Presbyterian 
contributions  have  been  a  large  element  in  the  re- 
sources  of  the  Society.  The  same  thing  is  true  of 
the  other  two  great  religious  publishing  houses  of  the 
country,  namely,  the  American  Tract  Society,  and  the 
American  Sunday  School  Union.  One  of  the  leading 
executive  officers  of  one  of  these  Societies,  himself  not 
a  Presbyterian,  said  that  if  the  Presbyterian  Church 
should  withdraw  its  contributions  and  co-operation  from 
any  or  all  of  these  three  societies,  their  great  work 
would  thereby  be  ended.  For  the  American  Bible 
Society  there  is  provided  in  the  annual  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  a  space  for  reporting  contributions. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know,  if  there  were  any  way 
of  finding  out,  exactly  the  amount  given  by  the  Presby- 
terian Church  to  these  great  union  movements.  In 
1 89 1  the  amount  reported  in  the  minutes  as  given  by 
the  Presbyterian  Churches  to  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety was  $20,442.07,  or  nearly  thirty-three  per  cent,  of 
the  total  "  Gifts  of  the  Living."  The  annual  report  of 
the  Bible  Society  for  that  same  year  gives  the  amount 
of  "Gifts  of  the  Living"  as  $68,379.87.  Much  of  this 
came  from   "Individual  Gifts"   and   "  Donations  from 


354  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Auxiliaries."  Curiosity  is  awakened  to  ask  how  many 
of  these  "Individuals"  were  Presbyterians,  and  how 
much  of  these  donations  of  auxiliaries  were  the  contri- 
butions of  Presbyterians  present  at  the  anniversaries 
when  the  collections  were  made. 

With  the  same  cordiality  the  Presbyterian  Church 
has  done  her  full  share  and  more  in  the  work  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  and  Christian  Endeavor  Socie- 
ties of  the  country.  In  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  organizations  of  the  large  cities,  the  pro- 
portionate support  given  by  the  Presbyterian  Church 
is  not  ordinarily  indicated  by  the  denominational  affilia- 
tions of  the  officers.  It  is  only  when  their  annual 
report  of  contributions  and  contributors  is  published, 
that  even  the  best  informed  are  able  to  say  how  large  a 
share  is  furnished  by  Presbyterian  donors.  In  a  West- 
ern city  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 
seeking  funds  to  secure  a  new  building.  After  sixty 
thousand  dollars  had  been  given  by  one  Presbyterian, 
a  general  committee  of  one  hundred  was  appointed 
representing  all  denominations.  For  effective  work,  of 
course,  that  number  was  too  large,  and  so  a  select  can- 
vassing committee  of  five  was  appointed,  taken  from 
the  leading  business  men,  and  limited  to  those  who 
would  contribute  at  least  five  thousand  dollars.  Four 
of  these  so  appointed  were  found  to  be  Presbyterian 
Elders.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
Secretary  said  that  this  was  about  the  ordinary  propor- 
tion in  other  cities.  The  names  of  William  E.  Dodge, 
Jr.,  and  Cephas  Brainard  of  New  York  ;  George  H. 
Stuart  and  John  Wanamaker  of  Philadelphia; 
J.  V.  Farwell  and   Cyrus  McCormick,  Jr.    of  Chicago. 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        355 

are  specimens  of  the  kind  of  Presbyterians  whose  public 
spirit  and  energetic  liberality  go  into  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  work.  During  the  war  the 
Christian  Commission  was  one  of  the  most  useful 
agencies  in  that  remarkable  maintenance  of  Christian 
character  which  was  manifest  among  the  soldiers.  That 
Christian  Commission  was  originally  appointed  by  the 
International  Convention  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations.  The  efficient  President  of  the  Commis- 
sion was  Mr,  George  H.  Stuart,  a  Presbyterian  elder. 
Into  the  contributions  of  money  to  the  treasury,  and 
of  hospital  supplies  and  books  to  the  material  resources 
of  the  commission,  as  well  as  delegates,  ministerial  and 
lay,  to  the  work  in  the  field,  no  denomination  gave 
more  abundantly  than  did  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  most  recent  interdenominational  form  of  reli- 
gious activity  is  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor.  For  many  years  Young  People's  Associa- 
tions under  various  names,  and  doing  various  kinds  of 
work,  were  found  in  the  large  churches  in  the  leading 
cities.  The  Christian  Endeavor  organization  was  the 
result  of  these  experiments,  and  took  form  in  the 
church  of  Rev.  F.  E.  Clark,  in  Portland,  Me.,  February 
2,  1 88 1.  The  constitution  originally  adopted  was  so 
simple,  and  the  plans  so  effective,  that  on  their  earliest 
publication  they  struck  a  responsive  chord  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Christian  young  people  and  experienced 
Christian  workers  all  over  the  land.  Thousands  of 
associations,  which  had  been  in  existence  in  other 
forms,  immediately  adopted  the  Endeavor  name  and 
the  Christian  Endeavor  Constitution,  pledge  and 
methods.  The  Church  in  which  it  was  first  formed  was 
a  Congregational    Church,  but  at  the  tenth  annual  con- 


356  PRESBYTERIANS. 

vention  held  in  1891  at  Minneapolis,  there  were  re- 
ported a  total  of  17,000  Associations.  Of  these  there 
were  more  found  in  Presbyterian  churches  than  in  the 
churches  of  any  other  denomination.  This  denomina- 
tion had  4019.  The  history  of  the  work  of  the  Pres- 
byterians in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.  is 
also  repeated  in  the  experience  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations.  The  introduction  of  ladies  as 
clerks  in  stores,  stenographers  and  private  secretaries 
for  business  people,  has  opened  a  wide  field  for  this 
Association.  In  almost  all  the  large  cities  at  present 
these  Associations  have  been  formed  and  are  doing  a 
most  admirable  work  in  supplying  needed  care  for  the 
physical,  intellectual,  social  and  religious  life  of  these 
self-respecting  and  self-supporting  young  women.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  the  international  workers  that,  in  this 
form  of  religious  activity,  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
doing  its  full  part,  whether  in  contributing  money  or 
furnishing  workers. 

In  1886  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  assumed  the  position  of  the  special 
representatives  and  advocates  of  "Church  Unity." 
Though  that  denomination  is  popularly  supposed  to  be 
the  most  self-contained  and  exclusive  of  any,  a  proposi- 
tion was  made  by  the  bishops  to  the  Christian  world  to 
come  back  and  unite  with  them  on  the  basis  of  four 
propositions  :  First,  the  supreme  infallible  authority  of 
the  Scriptures  ;  second,  the  two  Sacraments,  of  Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper;  third,  the  doctrinal  basis  stated 
in  the  Nicene  Creed;  and  fourth,  the  universal  accept- 
ance of  the  Historic  Episcopate.  To  this,  as  to  every 
other  proposition  for  Church  unity,  the  Presbyterian 
General    Assembly    made    a    respectful    and    cordial 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        357 

response  ;  and  appointed  a  committee  of  conference. 
There  is  a  widespread  feeling-  that  the  Nicene  Creed 
is  insufficient  for  the  doctrinal  basis  of  a  church  in  the 
present  day.  There  is  also  a  very  broad  suspicion 
that  the  phrase  "  Historic  Episcopate"  is  meant  to  be 
that  form  of  Episcopacy  held  to  and  maintained  by 
the    Protestant    Episcopal    Church    of    England    and 


PRESBYTERIAN    HOSPITAL,    CHICAGO,    ILL. 

America,  as  contrasted  with  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
the  Greek  Churches  on  the  one  hand,  and  all  other 
evangelical  denominations  and  forms  of  government  on 
the  other.  The  correspondence  between  this  com- 
mittee of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  and  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  General  Convention  is  still  going 
on  ;  but  the  prospects  of  any  valuable  practical  result 
are  rapidly  fading  out. 

In  1876  the  General  Assembly  entered  into  the 
"  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches  throughout  the 
world  holding  the  Presbyterian  system."  At  all  its 
meetings  the  General  Assembly  has  been  represented 
by  a  large  delegation,    and  out  of    the    funds  of    the; 


358  PRESBYTERIANS. 

General  Assembly  there  have  been  contributed  the 
quota  of  the  expenses  assessed  upon  the  Church. 
The  last  chapter  of  this  book,  on  the  "  Presbyterian 
Communion,"  is  the  contribution  of  Rev.  William 
H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Practical 
Theology  in  Lane  Seminary,  Stated  Clerk  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  Western  Secretary  of  the 
Alliance. 

The  General  Assembly  has  also  taken  prompt  meas- 
ures to  co-operate  with  the  other  denominations  in  all 
interdenominational  movements.  It  now  has  com- 
mittees appointed  to  co-operate  with  delegates  from 
other  bodies  with  a  view,  if  possible,  to  arrange  for  an 
American  Federation  of  Presbyterian  Churches  to  con- 
sider such  matters  as  education,  temperance,  Sabbath 
keeping,  marriage  and  divorce  legislation,  and  especially 
proper  co-operation  in  mission  fields.  There  is  another 
committee  upon  a  "  Consensus  Creed."  The  Apostles' 
Creed  is  quite  extensively  used  in  the  Sunday  Schools 
and  elsewhere  ;  and  yet  it  contains  two  expressions 
which  are  constantly  liable  to  misinterpretation  on  the 
part  of  the  children.  One  is  the  belief  in  the  "  Holy 
Catholic  Church,"  and  the  other  is  the  "descent  into 
Hell."  This  committee  on  the  Consensus  Creed  seeks 
to  furnish  such  a  modern  statement  of  the  few  essential 
and  fundamental  doctrines  of  evangelical  religion  as 
will  be  acceptable  to  all  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  suitable  for  use  by  the  young  people's 
societies  and  Sunday-schools  of  all  churches.  There  is 
also  a  committee  to  co-operate  with  other  friends  of  the 
Sabbath  in  the  securing  of  the  proper  observance  of  the 
Lord's  day.  Reports  from  all  these  committees  are  had 
at  each  General    Assembly,    and  the  various  subjects 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        359 

receive  earnest  consideration,  and  the    efforts  at  har- 
mony enthusiastic  approval. 

At  present  (1892)  no  movement  is  before  the  Church 
for  organic  union  with  any  other  denomination.  No 
proposition  for  such  organic  union  has  reached  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  from  any  quarter,  which  has  not 
been  kindly  received  and  carefully  considered.  There 
are  several  denominations  with  which  the  sfreat  mass  of 
the  Presbyterian  ministry  and  membership  would  be 
glad  to  unite  ;  but  in  all  these  cases,  after  the  union, 
the  Presbyterian  Church  would  be  in  a  decided  majority. 
Leading  men  in  the  Church  believe  that  it  is  scarcely 
courteous  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  be  thrusting 
its  desire  for  union  upon  any  denomination,  when  it  is 
self-evident  to  all  that,  after  the  union,  the  Presbyterian 
Church  could  do  as  it  pleased  and  the  other  body  would 
be  in  a  comparatively  helpless  minority.  All  this,  how- 
ever, is  on  the  supposition  that,  after  the  union  those 
who  are  now  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  should  hold 
to  one  view,  and  those  who  are  now  in  the  other  body 
with  whom  a  union  is  suggested  should  hold  to  a  dif- 
ferent  view.  Organic  union  means  that  both  parties 
should  lose  their  identity,  and  each  should  take  the 
uncertainties  of  the  future  in  subjection  to  divine  Prov- 
idence, and  trust  the  other  party  to  the  contract.  No 
contract  of  union  can  be  made  by  which  a  real  organic 
union  can  be  accomplished,  and  yet  there  be  still  left 
any  party  so  separate  and  individual  as  to  be  able  to 
enforce  that  contract.  No  case  of  organic  union  has  so 
far  occurred  in  which  the  dividing  lines,  between  parties 
in  the  united  Church,  followed  the  lines  of  division  be- 
tween the  denominations  before  they  were  united. 
However  desirable  church  union  may  be,  until  two  de- 


360  PRESBYTERIANS. 

nominations  come  to  have  such  confidence  in  each 
other  that  they  are  ready  to  hold  their  past  as  part  of 
the  common  history,  and  trust  to  their  future  as  under 
God  a  common  destiny,  it  is  doubtful  whether  union  is 
practicable  or  even  desirable. 

Constantly  there  is  an  increasing  degree  of  unity  and 
brotherly  kindness  maintained  between  evangelical  de- 
nominations. Interdenominational  controversies  are 
very  rare  ;  theological  debates  almost  unknown.  Mu- 
tual co-operation  is  the  almost  universal  rule.  Even 
when  there  is  competition,  it  is  generally  carried  on  in 
very  much  the  same  spirit  as  the  competition  between 
congregations  of  the  same  denomination.  No  doubt 
there  is  emulation  ;  but  in  most  cases  it  is  an  emulation 
which  results  in  larger  activity  and  more  thorough  work 
on  the  part  of  all  parties.  The  present  disposition  is 
for  every  evangelical  denomination  to  rejoice  in  the 
success  of  any  of  the  others  ;  and  while  each  shall  pray 
for  God's  blessing  upon  all  who  preach  the  truth  and 
wait  for  the  Kingdom,  each  shall  strive  earnestly  to 
discharge  the  duties  which  are  found  crowding  around 
its  own  door. 

Upon  the  whole  it  may  be  most  surely  asserted  that 
whatever  charge  of  a  lack  of  breadth  may  be  made 
against  the  Creed,  or  lack  of  liberality  made  against  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  people  are  not  a  whit  behind 
the  chiefest  Christians  in  sturdiness  of  faith,  liberality 
of  contributions  and  cordiality  in  co-operating  with 
all  God's  people  in  every  good  work. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  why  the  proverbial  de- 
scription of  the  thorough-going  Presbyterian  should  be 
"  True  Blue."  No  doubt  it  comes  to  America  through 
Scotland,  but  why  did  the  Scotch  choose  blue   as  their 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        361 

national  color,  or  the  British  red,  or  the  Irish  green? 
Blue  was  an  appropriate  color  in  the  days  when  men 
were  persecuted,  and  only  a  color  which  would  neither 
fade  in  rain  nor  grow  dim  in  sunshine  would  do.  But 
the  interpretation  and  adoption  of  the  color  was  older 
than  the  Scotch  Presbyterians.  The  dyeing  of  linen 
cloth  was  an  industry  in  which  the  Egyptians  were  ex- 
perts long  before  Moses'  time.  Blue  was  incorporated 
largely  into  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle,  and  in 
Numbers  15:37-41  it  is  specifically  directed  to  be  worn 
for  instruction  and  remembrance.  The  earliest  popula- 
tions of  Western  Asia  knew  its  durable  character. 
From  Hebrew  times,  on  through  Scotch  sufferings  and 
triumphs,  as  well  as  in  modern  thought,  to  be  the  "  True 
Blue"  was  to  show  loyalty  to  God  and  perseverance  in 
the  right  among  men.  Presbyterians  may  be  proud  to 
be  the  "  True  Blue,"  and  their  past  history  and  their 
present  labors  fairly  justify  the  encomiums  passed  on 
them  by  Froude,  Carlyle  and  others  who  have  studied 
and  written  upon  the  philosopy  of  civilization. 

Prof.  Dorner,  of  Berlin,  has  said  :  "  Its  manly,  reso- 
lute temper,  its  energy  of  action,  which  also  expresses 
itself  in  energy  and  strength  of  thinking,  its  willing  self- 
surrender  and  its  fortitude  of  pursuit  in  great  and  bold 
designs  for  the  furtherance  of  Christ's  reign  ;  it  is  these 
qualities  that  I  admire  in  Presbyterian  ism." 

Carlyle  has  said  :  "  Protestantism  was  a  revolt 
against  spiritual  sovereignties,  popes  and  much  else. 
Presbyterianism  carried  out  the  revolt  against  earthly 
sovereignties." 

Mr.  Froude  has  said  :  "When  patriotism  has  cov- 
ered its  face,  and  human  courage  has  broken  down  ; 
when    intellect    has    yielded,   as    Gibbon    says,  'with  a 


362  PRESBYTERIANS. 

smile  or  a  sigh,'  content  to  philosophize  in  the  closet, 
and  abroad  worship  with  the  vulgar;  when  emotion  and 
sentiment  and  tender  imaginative  piety  have  dreamt 
themselves  into  forgetfulness  that  there  is  any  differ- 
ence between  lies  and  truth,  the  slavish  form  of  belief 
called  Calvinism,  in  one  or  other  of  its  many  forms,  has 
borne  ever  an  inflexible  front  to  illusion  and  mendacity, 
and  has  preferred  to  be  ground  to  powder  like  flint, 
rather  than  bend  before  violence  or  melt  under  en- 
ervating temptations." 

The  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  Hughes,  of  New 
York,  has  said  :  "  Though  it  is  my  privilege  to  regard 
the  authority  exercised  by  the  General  Assembly  as 
usurpation,  still  I  must  say,  with  every  man  acquainted 
with  the  mode  in  which  it  is  organized,  that,  for  the 
purpose  of  popular  and  political  government,  its  struc- 
ture is  little  inferior  to  that  of  Congress  itself.  It  acts 
on  the  principle  of  a  radiating  center,  and  is  with- 
out an  equal  or  a  rival  among  other  denominations 
of  the  country." 

Some  leading  Comtean  Evolutionists  of  England 
have  published  a  "  Calendar  of  Great  Men  "  to  show 
how  Darwinism  is  indicated  in  intellectual  progress. 
They  omitted  the  name  of  John  Calvin.  Though  of  the 
same  way  of  philosophical  thinking,  Mr.  John  Morley 
thus  criticises  this  omission:  "To  omit  Calvin  from 
the  forces  of  Western  Evolution  is  to  read  history  with 

one  eye  shut Hobbes  and  Cromwell  were  giants 

in  their  several  ways,  but  if  we  consider  their  power  of 
binding  men  together  by  stable  association  and  organi- 
zation, their  permanent  influence  over  the  moral  convic- 
tions and  conduct  of  vast  masses  of  men  for  generation 
after  generation,  the  marks  they  have  set  on  social  and 


NEWSPAPERS,    PHILANTHROPIES,    CHURCH    UNITY.        363 

political  institutions  wherever  the  Protestant  faith  pre- 
vails, from  the  country  of  John  Knox  to  the  country  of 
Jonathan  Edwards,  we  cannot  but  see  that,  compared 
with  Calvin,  not  in  capacity  of  intellect,  but  in  power  of 
giving  formal  shape  to  a  world,  Hobbes  and  Cromwell 
are  hardly  more  than  names  writ  in  water." 

Prof.  John  Fiske,  of  Harvard  University,  speaking 
of  Puritan  Theocracy  in  its  relation  to  civil  liberty, 
says  :  "  It  would  be  hard  to  overrate  the  debt  of  civil 
liberty  which  mankind  owes  to  Calvin.  Calvinism  left 
the  individual  man  alone  in  the  presence  of  his  God. 
It  was  a  religion  fit  to  inspire  men  who  were  to  be 
called  upon  to  fight  for  freedom,  whether  in  the  marshes 
of  the  Netherlands,  or  on  the  moors  of  Scotland. 
Each  church  tends  to  become  an  independent  con- 
gregation of  worshipers,  constituting  one  of  the  most 
effective  schools  that  has  ever  existed  for  training-  men 
for  local  self-government." 


SEAL   OK   THE   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    ADOPTED 
AT    PORTLAND,    ORE.,  l8g2. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

REVISION    OF    THE    CONFESSION    OF    FAITH. 

NO  denomination  of  Christians  enjoys  perfect  freedom 
in  the  selection  and  shaping  of  its  own  mission  in 
the  world.  The  tasks  to  which  a  denomination  is  called 
are  largely  assigned  to  it  by  the  providence  of  God  and 
the  struggles  and  studies  of  its  own  people.  Success 
in  religion,  as  in  every  other  human  enterprise,  is  rarely 
attained,  unless  those  who  are  engaged  in  it  have  before 
them  a  clear  conception  of  their  peculiar  providential 
mission.  Presbyterianism  in  America  has,  in  the  past, 
been  set  to  maintain  an  educated  ministry,  a  logically 
coherent  system  of  doctrine,  a  religious  life  in  its  mem- 
bers consecrated  to  home  and  foreign  mission  work,  and 
to  earnest  evangelical  movements  in  the  large  cities 
and  in  the  older  settlements.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
has  never  established  a  board  for  the  promotion  of  the 
welfare  of  Christianity,  and  then  abandoned  the  objects 
for  which  that  board  was  established.  Its  list  of  boards 
and  permanent  committees,  and  the  length  of  time  set 
apart  at  the  General  Assembly  by  standing  rules  for 
the  consideration  of  the  causes  represented  by  these 
boards  and  committees,  constitute  the  "  Public  Profes- 
sion of  Faith  "  on  the  part  of  the  denomination  as  to 
the  great  permanent  objects  to  which  it  is  devoted. 
That  list  deserves  to  be  in  the  memory  and  heart  of 
every  Presbyterian,  and  will  furnish  an  instructive  study 
to  all  outside  of  its  membership  who  wish  to  investigate 

364 


REVISION   OF   THE   CONFESSION   OF   FAITH.  365 

the  life  and  work  of  the  denomination.  Special  sketches 
of  the  history  of  each  of  these  Boards  will  be  found  in 
the  chapter  on  Missions  and  Church  Boards. 

Besides  these  tasks  which  the  Church  continually 
urges  on  the  consciousness  of  her  people,  as  history 
goes  on  new  duties  arise,  according  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  times.  These  are  generally  matters  about  which 
differences  of  opinion  exist.  It  is  not  ordinarily  found 
that  any  denomination  will,  on  these  new  questions, 
develop  unanimity  among  its  membership.  In  the 
early  Church  the  questions  concerning  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ  were  sharply  debated.  In  the  times  of  the 
Reformation  the  doctrines  as  to  justification  and  the 
methods  of  Church  government  were  on  hand  for  re- 
consideration and  study.  In  the  seventeenth  century 
Deism  was  the  center  of  controversy  in  England.  In 
the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country, 
at  different  times,  such  questions  as  the  education  of 
the  ministry,  the  methods  of  revival,  the  wisdom  of 
voluntary  societies,  or  denominational  Boards,  have  been 
debated.  On  all  these  questions  there  is  now  reasonable 
unanimity  throughout  the  body.  Four  new  questions 
are  now  before  the  Church.  These  are  :  the  extent  and 
form  of  the  revision  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  higher 
criticism,  a  confessional  position  on  the  mode  of  inspira- 
tion and  the  relations  to  be  maintained  between  the 
Church  and  her  theological  seminaries.  It  is  not  the 
office  of  a  historian  to  predict  the  probable  conclusions 
of  the  Church  on  any  of  these  questions.  It  may  seem 
somewhat  presumptuous  to  assert  that  any  of  these  is 
to  be  decided  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  any  more 
than  by  any  other  denomination  ;  but  other  Churches 
will   be  profoundly  influenced  by  these  discussions  and 


366  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  conclusions.  No  denomination  can  debate  such 
questions  except  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  reading 
public  of  the  religious,  not  to  say  of  the  secular,  world. 
No  denomination  now  lives  to  itself,  or  debates  for 
itself,  or  determines  theological   or  practical  questions 


ADMINISTRATION    BUILDING,    PRESBYTERIAN    HOSPITAL,    PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

wholly  for  its  own  communion.  The  papers  and  peri- 
odicals of  all  denominations  will  report  the  action  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  they  will  open  their 
columns  to  criticisms,  reviews,  objections  or  encomiums 
on  all  propositions,  speeches,  resolutions  or  books 
which  may  be  given  to  the  public  as  bearing  on  any  of 
these  questions.  Whether  the  difference  of  view  upon 
these  four  points  will   divide   along-  the   same  lines,  so 


REVISION   OF   THE   CONFESSION   OF    FAITH.  367 

that  there  shall  grow  up  in  the  Church  two  parties,  each 
with  its  own  view  of  revision,  higher  criticism,  inspira- 
tion and  theological  seminaries  is  not  yet  manifest. 
The  formation  of  such  parties,  made  by  agreeing  lines 
of  division  on  all  these  questions,  would  make  a  split  in 
the  Church  look  quite  probable.  Whether  that  will  be 
avoided  or  not  cannot  now  be  foreseen.  The  dividing 
lines  on  these  questions  have,  so  far,  shown  no  prob- 
ability that  any  past  divisions  will  be  complicated  with 
these  future  questions.  Able  Old  School,  as  well  as 
New  School  men  are  found  on  both  sides  of  all  of  these 
debated  matters.  The  advice  of  the  town  clerk  of 
Ephesus  is  excellent  advice  for  all  parties  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  at  the  present  time  :  "Ye  ought  to  be 
quiet  and  to  do  nothing  rash."     (Acts  19  :  36.) 

REVISION. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terians, before  their  separation  from  the  mother  church 
as  well  as  after,  objected  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  be- 
cause they  believed  it  asserted  a  doctrine  of  fatalism. 
Though  this  has  always  been  denied  by  ministers  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  yet  there  has  been  a  grow- 
ing sentiment  throughout  the  Church,  that  many 
phrases  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  presented  a  some- 
what extreme  view  of  the  doctrine  of  Foreordination. 
Here  and  there  various  ministers  have  insisted  that 
these  expressions  went  beyond  the  statements  found  in 
the  Word  of  God.  The  Westminster  Assembly  framed 
the  Confession  of  Faith  and  catechism  in  the  midst  of 
an  age  of  theological  controversy.  The  conflict  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  form  of  Episcopacy  was  then  spe- 
cially exciting.     The  controversy  with  the  rationalistic 


368  PRESBYTERIANS. 

form  of  Arminianism  was  then  at  its  height.  The 
Synod  of  Dort  had  but  recently  proclaimed  its  canons 
of  faith,  which  canons  are  generally  recognized  as  the 
extremest  form  of  Calvinism  that  has  been  formulated 
into  the  creed  of  a  National  Church.  The  statements 
of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  therefore,  are  to  a  consid- 
erable extent  controversial  statements,  and  are  only 
fully  understood  as  they  are  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
the  error  over  against  which  these  statements  are  made 
in  the  expression  of  truth.  Since  the  adjournment  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly  many  of  these  forms  of 
error  have  either  disappeared,  or  their  rationalistic 
and  skeptical  phases  have  been  supplanted  by  a  thor- 
oughly evangelical  type  of  belief.  It  is,  therefore,  not 
surprising  that,  when  these  polemic  statements  come  to 
be  read  by  themselves,  without  the  contrasted  light  of 
the  antagonistic  errors,  they  should  be  liable  to  be  mis- 
understood. 

At  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly  the  great  mission  movements,  both  Foreign  and 
Home,  which  came  in  with  the  revival  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  present  century,  had  not  been  thought  of. 
These  missionary  movements  have  turned  the  attention 
of  Christians  very  intently  on  the  Scripture  language 
proclaiming  the  mercy  of  God,  the  universality  pf  the 
offer  and  the  universal  applicability  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  evangelistic  duty  of  the  Church.  Within  the  last 
ten  or  fifteen  years  the  discussion  of  these  questions 
has  been  very  earnest.  In  the  presence  of  the  lack  of 
money,  and  of  men  to  go  into  the  difficult  fields  abroad 
and  into  the  humbler  and  more  trying  fields  of  frontier 
life,  and  into  work  among  the  degraded  districts  in  the 
city,  Christians  have  come  to  feel  that  the  Confession 


REVISION   OF   THE   CONFESSION    OF   FAITH.  369 

of  Faith  of  the  Church  ought  to  magnify  the  duties  of 
evangelizing  the  world  laid  by  Jesus  Christ  upon  all 
his  people. 

As  a  result  of  this  agitation  in  favor  of  a  revision  of 
the  Confession  of  Faith,  fifteen  Presbyteries  sent  over- 
tures to  the  General  Assembly  of  1889  asking  for  some 
revision.  This  number  was  not  large  as  compared  with 
the  whole  number  of  Presbyteries,  but  it  was  large 
enough  fairly  to  demand  of  the  General  Assembly  that 
steps  should  be  taken  to  find  out  what  was  the  mind  of 
the  Church  upon  the  subject.  Cautious  and  prudent 
action  was  therefore  had.  The  General  Assembly  sent 
down  two  questions  to  be  answered  by  each  of  the 
Presbyteries  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1890.  The 
first  was  the  general  question,"  Do  you  desire  a  revision 
of  the  Confession  of  Faith?"  The  second  was  in- 
tended to  call  out  a  specific  indication  of  the  kind  and 
measure  of  revision  desired,  and  was  in  these  words  : 
"  If  so,  in  what  respects  and  to  what  extent?"  When 
the  General  Assembly  of  1890  came  to  examine  the  re- 
sponses sent  to  them,  it  was  found  that  answers  were 
present  from  all  but  four  Presbyteries.  These  four  were 
all  Foreign  Mission  Presbyteries  in  Asia.  Seven  Pres- 
byteries, five  of  them  Foreign  Mission  Presbyteries, 
declined  to  vote.  Sixty-eight  Presbyteries  answered 
that  they  did  not  desire  a  revision  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith.  One  hundred  and  thirty-four  Presbyteries  an- 
swered the  first  question  in  the  affirmative,  with  specifi- 
cations of  revision  which  they  desired.  In  their  answers 
many  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  revision 
Presbyteries  simply  named  certain  chapters  and  sections, 
without  specifying  the  amended  form  which  they  would 
desire.      Ninety-two  coupled  with  their  desire  the  state- 


370  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ment  that,  while  they  desired  revision,  they  desired  that 
this  revision  might  not  impair  the  integrity  of  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  contained  in  the  Confession  of  Faith. 
Ninety-three  Presbyteries  asked  for  an  insertion  in  the 
Confession  of  a  more  explicit  statement  of  "the  love  of 
God  for  the  world."  Sixty-three  asked  for  an  insertion 
of  a  statement  of  the  "  sufficiency  of  the  Atonement 
and  the  free  offer  of  salvation  to  all  men."  Sixty  asked 
for  a  recognition  of  the  Church's  duty  of  evangelizing 
the  world.  There  was  a  very  general  expression  of  a 
desire  for  a  reconstruction  of  the  article  of  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  on  the  salvation  of  infants.  The  General 
Assembly  of  1890  thus  had  before  it  a  fair  expression  of 
the  views  of  the  Church  upon  the  whole  revision  ques- 
tion. It  was  obvious  that  the  Church  desired  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  suitable  committee  to  examine,  with 
great  care,  all  the  phraseology  of  every  part  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith. 

The  appointment  of  this  committee  of  Revision  was 
a  very  important  matter.  The  selection  of  the  men  to 
constitute  it  was  accomplished  by  appointing  a  large 
committee  to  name  the  Revision  Committee.  The 
Moderator  was  instructed  to  appoint  a  nominating  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  one  member  of  the  Assembly 
from  each  Synod,  and  composed  of  nineteen  ministers 
and  ten  elders  to  nominate  to  the  Assembly  the  "  As- 
sembly's Committee  on  Revision  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith."  This  Revision  Committee  was  to  consist  of 
fifteen  ministers  and  ten  elders.  The  Assembly  in- 
structed this  Revision  Committee  "  That  they  shall  not 
propose  any  alteration  or  amendment  that  will  in  any 
way  impair  tke  integrity  of  the  Reformed  or  Calvin- 
istic  system   of  doctrine  taught    in    the   Confession  of 


REVISION   OF   THE   CONFESSION   OF   FAITH.  37 1 

Faith."  The  nominating  committee  reported,  and  the 
Assembly  appointed  the  following  persons  to  constitute 
this  committee : 

Ministers. — Prof.  William  H.  Green,  Princeton  Semi- 
nary ;  Prof.  T.  S.  Hastings,  Union  Seminary;  Prof.  M. 
B.  Riddle,  Allegheny  Seminary ;  Prof.  W.  J.  Beecher, 
Auburn  Seminary  ;  Prof.  E.  D.  Morris,  Lane  Seminary  ; 
Prof.  Herrick  Johnson,  Chicago  Seminary;  Prof.  Will- 
iam Alexander,  San  Francisco  Seminary ;  President 
F.  L.  Patton,  Princeton  College ;  President  W.  C. 
Roberts,  Lake  Forest  University;  Dr.  W.  E.  Moore, 
Pastor  Second  Church,  Columbus;  Dr.  H.  J.  Van 
Dyke,  Pastor  Second  Church,  Brooklyn  ;  Dr.  E.  Ers- 
kine,  Pastor  First  Church,  Newville ;  Dr.  J.  T.  Left- 
wich,  Pastor  First  Church,  Baltimore  ;  Dr.  S.  J.  Nic- 
colls,  Pastor  Second  Church,  St.  Louis ;  Dr.  E.  R. 
Burkhalter,  Pastor  First  Church,  Cedar  Rapids,  la. 

Elders. — Judge  William  Strong,  Washington  City; 
Senator  S.  J.  R.  McMillan,  Minnesota;  Judge  Alfred 
Hand,  Pennsylvania;  Dr.  E.  E.  White,  Ohio  ;  Judge 
Henry  B.  Sayler,  Indiana;  W.  S.  Gilman,  Esq.,  New 
York;  Barker  Gummere,  Esq.,  New  Jersey;  William 
Ernst,  Esq.,  Kentucky ;  George  Junkin,  Esq.,  Phila- 
delphia ;  Charles  N.  Charnley,  Esq.,  Illinois. 

The  committee  met  and  organized  by  the  election  of 
W.  C.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  Lake  Forest  Univer- 
sity, Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1889,  as 
permanent  Chairman,  and  Rev.  W.  E.  Moore,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1890, 
and  Permanent  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly,  as 
Clerk  of  the  Committee.  Dr.  Hastings  being  unable 
to  act,  his  place  was  finally  filled  by  Dr.  Robert  R. 
Booth,  of  New  York.      Dr.  H.  J.  Van  Dyke  died  in  1891. 


372  PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  course  pursued  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
1890,  in  directing  the  publication  in  full  of  the  answers 
of  all  the  Presbyteries,  laid  before  the  whole  Church 
the  real  mind  of  the  Church  on  the  subject  of  revision. 
Many  of  those  who  had  opposed  revision,  under  the 
supposition  that  the  revisionists  desired  to  abandon  the 
Calvinistic  system,  lost  all  interest  in  their  opposition 
to  Revision  when  they  came  to  see  the  kind  of  revision 
the  Presbyteries  asked  for  in  their  answers  to  the  over- 
tures. The  whole  Church  seemed  to  be  completely 
satisfied  with  the  constitution  of  the  Revision  Com- 
mittee. It  was  representative  of  the  mind  of  the 
Church.  It  will  be  seen  that  on  the  committee  there 
is  a  representation  of  those  who  are  recognized  as  op- 
posed to  all  revision.  There  was,  as  was  right,  a  good 
working  majority  of  the  advocates  of  revision.  There 
was  a  good  representation  of  the  theological  seminaries 
of  the  country  ;  and  this  representation  of  the  theolog- 
ical seminaries  represented  all  forms  of  professorial 
work.  On  the  committee  were  professors  of  theology, 
of  Hebrew  language,  of  Greek  language  and  of  pastoral 
work.  Two  of  the  committee  were  college  presidents. 
Six  of  them  were  successful  pastors,  with  high  reputa- 
tion for  scholarship,  as  well  as  general  ability  in  church 
work.  Among  the  elders  there  were  prominent  law- 
yers, several  judges,  several  business  men,  and  many 
well-known  writers.  One  was  an  ex-Justice  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  one  was  an  ex-Senator 
of  the  United  States,  and  one  was  an  ex-State  Superin- 
tendent of  Education.  The  committee  frankly  avowed 
its  desire  for  thoughtful  suggestions  from  all  who  were 
interested  in  such  a  revision  as  would  express  the  mind 
of  the  Church.      After  two  meetings,  at   each   of  which 


REVISION    OF   THE   CONFESSION    OF   FAITH. 


373 


ample  time  was  taken  for  prayer,  conference  and  the 
fullest  comparison  of  views,  the  committee  was  able  to 
present  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1891  a  unanimous 
report.  When  the  committee  was  appointed  it  was  ex- 
pected that  it  would  be  able  to  make  a  final  report  by 
1 89 1.     The  committee,  however,  believed  there  was  no 


^ 


ALBERT  LEA  COLLEGE  (FEMALE),  ALBERT  LEA,  MINN. 

great  hurry  for  finishing  the  work,  and  that  it  was  im- 
portant that  the  committee  should  have  the  criticisms 
of  all  students  of  revision  before  its  members  in  making 
up  the  final  report  for  the  vote  on  its  adoption  by  the 
Presbyteries.  The  report,  therefore,  came  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1891,  not  as  a  final  report,  but  as  a 
"report  of  progress,"  with  the  request  from  the  Com- 
mittee of  Revision  that  the  proposed  amendments  to 
the  Confession  of   Faith    should   be   sent   down   to   the 


374  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Presbyteries  for  criticisms  and  suggestions,  and  that 
the  committee  should  be  given  another  year  in  which  to 
make  up  its  final  report  in  view  of  whatever  added  light 
might  be  furnished.  This  suggestion  of  the  committee 
was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly, 
and  the  committee  continued  to  report  again  in  1892. 

If  the  General  Assembly  of  1891  had  been  called 
upon  to  do  so,  it  is  extremely  probable  that  it  would 
have  approved  the  report,  and  sent  it  down  to  the 
Presbyteries  for  adoption  or  rejection.  The  discussion 
which  has  occurred  in  the  public  prints,  as  well  as  what 
is  reported  from  the  Presbyteries,  indicates  that  there 
are  in  the  main  three  phases  of  opinion  extensively  held 
by  the  Church.  One  section  may  be  called  the  Anti- 
revisionists,  who  prefer  the  Standards  of  the  Church  as 
they  are  ;  another  section  may  be  called  the  Revision- 
ists, who  are  well  satisfied  with  the  work  of  the  Com- 
mittee ;  the  third  section  may  be  called  the  Short  Creed 
party.  It  is  not  easy  to  estimate  with  any  confidence 
the  proportionate  number  of  these  three  parties.  Un- 
doubtedly, the  section  whose  views  are  represented  by 
the  report  of  the  Committee  is  very  much  the  largest. 
The  Anti-revisionist  section  has  so  far  given  no  indica- 
tion  of  a  purpose  to  divide  the  Church  in  case  the 
essence  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  should  be 
adopted.  It  is  probable  that  there  are  two  parties  in 
the  Short  Creed  section.  One  party  would  prefer  a 
comparatively  brief  creed,  thoroughly  evangelical  and 
Calvinistic,  after  the  type  of  the  creed  adopted  by  the 
English  Presbyterian  Church  ;  another  part  would  pre- 
fer a  still  shorter  creed  excluding-  distinctive  Calvinism, 
and  more  after  the  form  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the 
Nicene  Creed,  or  the  creed  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance. 


REVISION   OF   THE   CONFESSION   OF   FAITH.  375 

Several  good  results  have  already  been  reached  by 
the  agitation.  The  whole  Church  has  been  called  to  a 
restudy  of  her  fundamental  doctrines.  Attention  lias 
been  called  to  the  difference  between  the  use  of  a  Con- 
fession of  Faith  to  which  ministers  and  Church  officers 
are  expected  to  subscribe,  and  the  simple  "  Confession 
of  their  Faith  in  Christ,"  which  is  expected  of  Church 
members.  Those  who  are  to  be  teachers  and  leaders 
of  Presbyterians  are  expected  to  know  and  prefer  the 
position  of  the  Church.  Private  members  have  never 
been  asked  to  understand  the  Confession  of  Faith 
before  they  join  the  Presbyterians.  Private  member- 
ship is  for  the  upbuilding  and  training  of  the  young, 
and  the  beginners  in  the  divine  life.  These  are  expected 
to  acknowledge  their  own  sinfulness,  reject  all  depend- 
ence on  themselves,  proclaim  Jesus  Christ  as  their  only 
trust  for  a  Saviour,  and  their  full  surrender  to  him  as 
his  servants  bound  to  obey  his  will.  All  such  have 
always  been  welcomed  to  the  means  of  grace  employed 
by  the  Church  to  promote  "growth  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

In  their  report  the  committee  recommends  the  inser- 
tion of  two  new  chapters.  One  of  these  is  on  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  other  is  on  the  Sufficiency 
of  the  Redemption  by  Christ  for  the  salvation  of  all 
men,  and  the  free  offer  thereof  to  all  who  will  accept  it. 
The  report  is  quite  explicit  in  affirming  the  election  of 
the  saved  and  the  inclusion  of  infants  and  idiots  among 
the  elect.  The  report  omits  much  that  is  said  in  the 
present  confession  about  the  relation  of  God  to  the  lost, 
but  affirms  that  they  perish  for  their  sins  under  the 
righteous  justice  of  God.  It  affirms  what  is  asserted 
in  Scripture,  and  seen   by  men  in  the  world,  that  God 


$76  PRESBYTERIANS. 

did  not  see  fit  to  elect  all  mankind  to  everlasting  life. 
Many  other  minor  changes  are  made,  but  they  are 
chiefly  in  the  way  of  harmonizing  other  parts  with  the 
scope  of  the  amended  sections.  Some  phrases  in  the 
original  language  of  the  Confession,  which  came  from 
the  controversy  of  the  Westminster  days  with  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  are  also  stricken  out. 

The  final  report  of  the  Revision  Committee  was  made 
to  the  Assembly  of  1892,  at  Portland.  It  was  sub- 
mitted in  the  shape  of  twenty-eight  separate  overtures, 
each  containing  the  proposed  amendments  on  a  dis- 
tinct subject.  The  Report  was  adopted  and  these 
overtures  sent  down  to  the  presbyteries  for  a  separate 
vote  on  each.  The  answers  of  the  presbyteries  will 
come  to  the  Assembly  of  1893,  and  enactment  by  that 
Assembly  will  be  required  to  confirm  such  amendments 
as  receive  the  affirmative  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the 
presbyteries. 

The  discussion  of  revision  has  attracted  earnest 
attention  to  the  history  of  the  work  of  the  Church  in 
the  past,  and  a  diligent  study  of  the  relations  between 
her  Calvinistic  system  of  doctrine  and  her  Presbyterian 
form  of  Church  government,  in  the  influence  of  the 
denomination  upon  modern  Christianity.  Outside  the 
Church,  as  well  as  inside,  there  is  growing  up  some 
due  appreciation  of  Calvin's  influence  in  favor  of  educa- 
tion and  republican  freedom  in  government.  Men 
now  see  better  than  before  the  importance  in  historical 
progress  of  that  toughness  of  moral  fiber  which  is 
characteristic  of  Calvinists,  and  which  makes  them 
intelligent  in  faith,  logical  in  debate,  heroic  in  battle, 
unbroken  by  persecution  and  persevering  in  every 
resistance  of  wrong  or  promotion  of  right. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

HIGHER    CRITICISM    IN    THE    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARIES. 

THE  subject  of  higher  criticism  and  its  bearing 
upon  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  is  at  present  one 
of  the  leading  questions  before  the  mind  of  the  Church. 
Higher  criticism  is  a  phrase  used  to  distinguish  that 
form  of  study  from  what  is  known  as  textual  criticism. 
Textual  criticism  is  the  study  of  the  manuscripts,  ver- 
sions and  variations  in  the  existing  copies  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the 
purest  possible  text  of  the  Scriptures.  Higher  or 
literary  criticism  is  the  study  of  the  Bible  as  literature. 
It  investigates  the  external  and  internal  evidences, 
bearing  upon  such  questions  as  those  of  authorship, 
date,  place,  purpose  and  relations  of  the  various  writ- 
ings of  the  Bible.  It  seeks  to  discover  how  far  human 
authorities  and  human  knowledge  may  have  influenced 
the  immediate  writers  of  the  books  of  the  Bible.  Many 
of  the  books  of  the  Bible  are  historical  books  or  com- 
pilations of  poetry.  In  the  historical  books  other  books 
are  referred  to,  such  as  the  Book  of  Jasher  and  various 
Hebrew  records.  Some  of  the  books  of  poetry  were 
used  as  devotional  works  in  the  public  worship  as  are 
our  modern  Church  hymn  books.  Others  were  poetical 
works  written  and  used  for  public  and  private  exhorta- 
tion and  instruction.  Higher  Criticism  seeks  to  dis- 
tinguish and  study  the  works  of  these  earlier  authors 
whose  writings  are  used,  the  date  and   place  of  these 

377 


378  PRESBYTERIANS. 

earlier  authors,  and  the  date  and  place  of  the  final 
writers  of  the  Scripture  books.  The  name  Higher 
Criticism,  in  its  present  use,  was  mainly  introduced 
into  theological  discussions  by  the  German  author, 
Eichhorn. 

Though  it  is  not  properly  confined  to  it,  Higher 
Criticism  is  now  mainly  occupied  with  the  study  of 
writings  whose  existence  is  suggested  but  not  proved. 
One  of  the  long-recognized  "Difficulties  of  Scripture" 
is  the  diversity  of  style  found  in  certain  books.  One 
explanation  of  this  diversity  is  that  it  is  due  to  differ- 
ences of  personal  age  and  personal  design  of  the  writer. 
Moses  sometimes  wrote  law,  sometimes  history,  some- 
times prophecy.  Solomon  began  writing  as  a  young 
man  and  ended  when  he  was  old.  Isaiah  was,  at  one 
time,  warning  against  sin  by  threatening  judgments, 
aeain  he  records  facts  for  future  instruction,  and  aeain 
he  encouraged  the  disheartened  by  predicting  victory 
over  Israel's  enemies.  Higher  critics  suggest  that 
some  of  these  variations  of  style  are  due  to  variations  of 
authorship.  The  critics  believe  that  they  can  discern 
differences  of  "  theology,  style  and  material,"  as  well  as 
"language."  Thus  they  strive  to  discriminate  between 
the  Elohist,  the  Jehovist,  the  Priest  Code,  the  Pro- 
phetic Writer,  and  the  Redactor  of  the  Pentateuch. 
In  some  instances  these  dissections  lead  to  the  assign- 
ment  of  various  clauses  and  words  of  a  single  verse  to 
different  authors  of  this  list.  Some  critics  have  five 
authors,  others  two,  and  some  ten. 

The  great  impulse  toward  this  kind  of  study  was 
given  long  before  the  time  of  Eichhorn.  Jean  As- 
true,  a  Roman  Catholic  physician  of  very  bad  charac- 
ter, even  in  the  dissolute  court  of   Louis  XV.,  in  Paris, 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN   THE   SEMINARIES.  379 

in  1753,  published  a  work  entitled  "Conjectures  as  to 
the  Original  Writings  from  which  Moses  compiled  the 
Book  of  Genesis."  He  supposed  the  two  names, 
Elohim  and  Jehovah,  which  are  used  as  names  of  God 
in  the  first  chapters  of  the  Hebrew  of  Genesis,  marked 
two  different  authors  ;  and  that  from  their  writings  and 
other  lost  records,  Moses,  or  some  later  scholar,  com- 
piled the  book  we  now  have.  Following  the  line  of 
investigation  suggested  by  this  "  Conjecture,"  subse- 
quent critics  proposed  various  divisions  of  the  book, 
imagining  more  or  fewer  writers  with  varying  dates. 
Through  the  latter  half  of  that  century  (the  eigh- 
teenth) this  mode  of  explaining  by  differences  of 
authorship  any  difference  of  style  found  in  a  book 
grew  in  popularity.  When,  therefore,  Eichhorn  came 
to  apply  this  method  to  the  whole  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  his  designation  of  it  as  "  the  Higher 
Criticism  "  was  promptly  followed  by  all  its  champions. 
By  the  use  of  the  same  method,  Eichhorn  asserted 
that  the  Gospels  showed  themselves  to  be  compilations 
by  authors  living  some  centuries  after  the  death  of  the 
apostles.  His  application  of  the  rules  of  Higher 
Criticism  in  the  New  Testament  is  an  admitted  failure. 
There  are  two  classes  of  modern  advocates  of  higher 
Criticism,  namely  :  the  Rationalistic  and  the  Evangeli- 
cal Schools.  Rationalism  denies  all  supernatural  influ- 
ence, and  reduces  all  past  events  to  ordinary  results  of 
natural  causes.  It  denies  the  existence  and  possibility  of 
historical  evidence  of  anything  which  may  be  fairly  called 
miraculous,  and  of  any  supernatural  inspiration,  and  nec- 
essarily denies  any  genuine  prediction  in  prophecy.  It  is 
thus  essentially  skeptical  as  to  the  creation  and  providen- 
tial government  of  the    universe  by  the   power   of   an 


38O  PRESBYTERIANS. 

almighty  God,  and  denies  all  evidence  of  any  efficient 
intervention  by  the  Deity  in  the  affairs  of  man  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  man  divine  instruction.  Evangelical 
Higher  Criticism,  on  the  contrary,  asserts  the  existence 
of  God's  providential  government  and  of  his  supernat- 
ural agency  in  the  government  of  his  Church,  but  asserts 
his  adoption  of  a  certain  mode  of  revelation  in  which 
his  servants  sometimes  cited  and  used  human  authori- 
ties in  order  to  the  production,  by  God's  will,  of  an 
infallible  text-book  on  faith  and  duty.  These  are  the 
two  extremes  ;  and  between  them  may  be  found  advo- 
cates of  every  shade  and  mixture  of  belief  and  unbelief. 

The  confidence  with  which  skeptical  critics  of  Europe 
have  asserted  that  disbelief  in  the  Divine  authority  of 
the  Bible  is  the  only  logical  result  of  Higher  Criticism, 
the  fact  that  its  conclusions  from  the  facts  stated  so 
largely  depend  on  the  taste  of  the  critic,  and  the  absence 
of  all  historical  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  writers 
(Elohist,  Jehovist,  etc.,)  of  which  it  makes  so  much 
use,  have  led  large  numbers  in  the  Church  to  be  ex- 
tremely distrustful  both  of  its  results  and  its  processes. 
Earnest  resolutions  in  condemnation  of  it  were  passed 
by  the  General  Assemblies  of  1882  and  1883. 

The  whole  matter  came  sharply  into  public  discus- 
sion at  the  inauguration  of  Professor  Charles  Augustus 
Briggs  as  professor  of  "  Biblical  Theology"  in  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  New  York.  The  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  that  Seminary,  Hon.  Charles 
Butler,  LL.  D.,  in  April,  1890,  tendered  to  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Seminary  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
the  endowment  of  an  additional  chair  in  the  institution, 
to  be  called  "The  Edward  Robinson  Chair  of  Biblical 
Theology."     In  his   address   making  the   donation,  he 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN   THE   SEMINARIES.  381 

expressed  a  wish  that  Professor  Briggs  should  occupy 
the  chair  thus  established.  Professor  Briggs  had  been 
"  Davenport  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Cognate  Lan- 
guages"  in  the  Seminary  for  many  years,  and  was  by 
the  Board  of  Trustees  transferred  to  this  new  chair  of 
Biblical  Theology.  He  was  inaugurated  professor 
January  20,  1891,  and  delivered  an  inaugural  address 
suitable  to  the  occasion. 

Professor  Briggs  has  for  years,  in  his  instructions  and 
through  the  public  press,  expressed  himself  strongly  in 
favor  of  the  principles  and  methods  of  the  Higher 
Criticism,  and  his  confident  belief  that  there  was  noth- 
ing necessarily  involved  in  either  its  facts,  its  methods 
or  its  legitimate  conclusions,  which  invalidated  faith  in 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  Bible  as  a  rule  of  faith 
and  practice.  In  his  inaugural  address  he  reasserted 
these  convictions  with  great  confidence  and  some  sever- 
ity of  language  regarding  those  who  condemned 
Higher  Critics  as  a  class.  The  inaugural  address,  when 
published,  produced  widespread  agitation  in  the  Church. 
In  the  address  Dr.  Briggs  insisted  that  there  was  noth- 
ing in  the  Westminster  Confession,  the  Standards  of 
the  Church,  or  of  any  of  the  creeds  of  Christendom 
inconsistent  with  his  views. 

Professor  Briggs  being  a  member  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  that  Presbytery  appointed  a  committee 
to  consider  the  propriety  of  tabling  charges  aginst  him. 
The  committee  reported  that  it  was  desirable  that 
charges  be  brought,  and  did  present  charges  with  speci- 
fications annexed.  The  report  of  this  committee  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  sixty-four  to  sixty-two,  October  5, 
1 89 1,  and  Presbytery  directed  Professor  Briggs  to 
answer  the  charges.      His  answer  was  presented  to  a 


382  PRESBYTERIANS. 

meeting  of  Presbytery  held  November  4,  1891,  and, 
after  considering  the  question,  the  Presbytery,  by  a 
vote  of  ninety-four  to  thirty-nine,  passed  the  following 
paper  and  dismissed  the  case.     That  paper  is  as  follows  : 

"Resolved :  That  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  hav- 
ing listened  to  the  paper  of  Rev.  Charles  A.  Briggs, 
D.  D.,  in  the  case  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America  against  him,  as  to  the  suffi- 
ciency of  the  charges  and  specifications  in  form  and 
legal  effect,  and  without  approving  of  the  positions 
stated  in  his  inaugural  address,  at  the  same  time  desir- 
ing earnestly  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  Church  ;  and 
in  view  of  the  declarations  made  by  Dr.  Briggs  touch- 
ing his  loyalty  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  West- 
minster Standards,  and  of  his  disclaimers  of  interpreta- 
tions put  on  some  of  his  words,  deems  it  best  to  dis- 
miss the  case,  and  hereby  does  so  dismiss  it."  An  appeal 
to  the  General  Assembly  from  this  action  of  Presbytery 
was  taken  by  the  prosecuting  committee.  Thirty-four 
members  of  Presbytery  also  took  steps  to  bring  the  case 
before  the  Synod  of  New  York  by  complaint. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1892  at  Portland  sus- 
tained the  appeal  of  the  prosecuting  committee  by  a 
vote  of  302  to  sustain,  127  to  sustain  in  part,  87  not  to 
sustain  ;  thus  making  the  total  vote  to  sustain  the  ap- 
peal, 429  and  87  to  sustain  the  action  of  the  Presby- 
tery in  dismissing  the  case.  The  case  was  then  for- 
mally remanded  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  with 
instructions  to  speedily  try  the  case  on  its  merits. 

INSPIRATION. 

This  agitation  on  the  subject  of  Higher  Criticism 
seems  to  be  concentrating  on  the  subject  of  Inspiration 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN   THE   SEMINARIES.  383 

as  the  center  of  conflict.  The  Westminster  Standards 
are  quite  explicit  on  the  fact  of  Inspiration,  but  they  do 
not  so  decisively  affirm  any  one  theory  of  the  mode  of 
inspiration  as  against  several  others.  Very  many,  in 
and  out  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  have  held  to  what 
is  known  as  the  theory  of  verbal  inspiration.  They 
hold  that  as  God  selected  certain  languages  out  of  many 
languages,,  and  certain  persons  out  of  the  multitude  of 
his  people,  to  be  the  channel  through  which  he  would 
communicate  his  Word  to  the  race,  so  he  chose  the 
inspired  writers  with  all  the  peculiarities  of  their  own 
style  and  age  and  idioms  and  individuality.  The  result, 
therefore,  these  hold,  is  a  collection  of  inspired  writ- 
ings having  two  authors,  a  human  author  and  a  divine 
author ;  and  that  each  of  these,  according  to  his  own 
department,  maintains  all  his  distinctive  peculiarities  in 
the  composite  work,  but  both  are  responsible  for  the 
words  used. 

A  very  prevalent  view  at  the  present  day  is  what  is 
known  as  the  theory  of  plenary  inspiration.  This  is 
supposed  to  evade  the  objection  to  the  verbal  theory 
that  it  is  too  mechanical,  and  makes  the  human  authors 
mere  scribes  of  dictated  words.  Dr.  Henry  B.  Smith, 
formerly  Professor  of  Theology  in  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  states  this  view  as  follows  :  "  The  divine 
influence  extends  to  and  pervades  the  whole  contents 
of  the  Scriptures,  both  historical  and  doctrinal  ;  it  in- 
cludes the  whole  of  the  strict  Divine  revelations,  and 
also  whatever  the  sacred  writers  utter  as  historians  and 
witnesses.  This  theory  comprises  both  the  matter  and 
the  form  of  the  Bible  ;  the  matter  in  the  form  in  which 
it  is  conveyed  and  set  forth.  It  extends  even  to  the 
language,  not  in  the  mechanical  sense  that   each   word 


384  PRESBYTERIANS. 

is  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  in  the  sense  that, 
under  divine  guidance,  each  writer  spake  in  his  own 
language  according  to  the  measure  of  his  knowledge, 
acquired  by  personal  experience,  by  the  testimony  of 
others,  or  by  immediate  divine  revelation." 

Dr.  Briggs,  in  his  inaugural,  states  his  own  theory 
of  Inspiration  as  that  which  holds  that  the  "Concept" 
alone  was  given  of  God,  and  that  the  human  agent  was 
liable  to  error,  as  he  is  oftentimes  merely  expressing  his 
own  belief  as  to  science,  history  and  human  affairs.  He 
was  charged  by  the  prosecuting  committee  of  his  Pres- 
bytery with  making,  in  his  inaugural,  the  Reason,  the 
Church  and  Scripture  as  of  co-ordinate  authority.  In 
his  response  to  Presbytery  he  explicitly  denied  holding 
that  these  were  co-ordinate,  but  asserted  that  while 
the  Church  and  the  Reason  were  authorities  they 
were  not  infallible ;  and  that  "  the  Scripture  was 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice."  He 
said,  "  When  God  speaks  through  the  conscience 
he  speaks  with  divine  authority  ;  but  the  conscience 
does  not  thereby  become  an  infallible  rule  of 
faith  and  practice."  "  The  Church  is  a  great  foun- 
tain of  divine  authority,  and  yet  not  an  infallible  rule 
of   faith   and  practice." 

Another  theory  of  inspiration  is  that  the  Bible 
"contains  the  Word  of  God."  These  hold  that  there 
is  a  general  inspiration  given  to  notable  men  in  vari- 
ous ages  ;  and  that  this  was  given  to  the  writers  of 
Scripture  in  an  especial  degree.  This  theory  is  not 
much  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  in  various 
shades  of  expression  is  avowed  by  many  writers  be- 
longing to  evangelical  denominations.  Skeptics  and 
Rationalists  deny  all   divine  authorship  of  any  book ; 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN    THE    SEMINARIES.  385 

and  on  the  subject  of  inspiration  argue  as  they  do  on 
the  subject  of  miracles,  namely,  that  any  book  which 
asserts  miraculous  events  as  historical  facts,  or  makes 
such  a  claim  to  inspiration  as  involves  a  divine  author 
for  its  pages,  has  thereby  proved  itself  erroneous. 
What  the  ultimate  issue  of  the  discussion  on  inspira- 
tion shall  be  is  not  yet  manifest. 

It  is  possible  that  the  pivot  of  the  controversy  may 
come  to  be  over  the  question  of  the  existence  of 
prophecy.  If  Christ  was  predicted  specifically,  and 
Old  Testament  writers  spoke  so  definitely  of  him  as 
to  exclude  everyone  else,  and  so  described  him  that 
he  could  be  recognized  when  he  came  ;  and  all  this  so 
discriminatingly  that  they  could  only  have  done  it 
throuoh  the  divine  foreknowledge  driven  to  them  ; 
then  the  fact  of  supernatural  inspiration  cannot  logi- 
cally be  denied.  Furthermore,  if  Christ  uttered  pre- 
dictions, which  have  been  so  fulfilled  since  his  death, 
that  his  utterance  of  them  and  their  fulfillment  in  his- 
tory can  only  be  explained  by  his  foreknowledge  and 
such  Divine  direction  of  events  on  his  part  as  brought 
to  pass  the  fulfillment  of  his  predictions,  then  the  fact 
of  his  supernatural  knowledge  is  assured.  Such 
prophecies  and  their  fulfillments  are  themselves  such 
supernatural  operations  of  God  in  the  present  world 
as  would  make  the  denial  of  the  possibility  of  miracles 
quite  unreasonable.  If  Messianic  prophecy  is  a  fact 
and  not  a  fiction,  Biblical  inspiration  is  likewise  a  fact. 
The  Standards  of  the  Church  commit  those  accepting 
them  to  such  a  form  of  belief  in  inspiration  as  makes 
God  responsible  for  the  contents  of  the  books  given  by 
his  direction  for  the  instruction  of  man.  That  he 
should  so  give  these  promises  and   prophecies  and  his- 


3§6  PRESBYTERIANS. 

torical  examples,  and  so  give  his  instruction  through 
poetry  and  parable  and  miracle,  that  men  should  find 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  understanding  them,  or  per- 
plexities involved  in  the  divine  method,  no  more  neces- 
sarily destroys  our  belief  in  the  divine  authority  of  his 
Word,  than  do  the  difficulties  of  nature  destroy  all  con- 
fidence in  science  ;  or  do  sin  and  suffering  and  national 
oppression  and  the  temporary  triumph  of  evil  destroy 
our  conviction  as  to  the  moral  character  of  the  system 
of  the  universe. 

RELATION    OF    THE    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARIES    TO    THE 
GENERAL    ASSEMBLY. 

When  the  directors  of  Union  Theological  Seminary 
reported  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1891  their  inau- 
guration of  Professor  Briggs,  a  very  important  question 
arose  for  consideration.  That  General  Assembly  found 
in  its  possession  overtures  from  sixty-three  Presbyteries 
with  reference  to  the  views  expressed  by  Dr.  Briggs  in 
his  inaugural  address.  Several  other  Presbyteries  had 
sent  up  overtures  upon  the  general  subject  of  theo- 
logical training,  the  Inspiration  of  the  Bible  and  the 
method  of  the  appointment  of  professors  in  theological 
seminaries.  These  overtures  had  been  sent  up  by  the 
Presbyteries  in  view  of  the  action  taken  by  the  General 
Assembly  at  the  time  of  the  reunion,  with  reference  to 
the  election  of  theological  professors.  As  will  be  seen 
in  the  chapter  on  theological  seminaries,  previous  to 
the  reunion  the  seminaries  were  organized  in  different 
ways.  In  some  the  directors  and  professors  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Assembly.  Others  were  under 
the  control  of  certain  Synods.  Others  were  organized 
as   close  corporations.       Union   Seminary,  New  York, 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN    THE   SEMINARIES.  387 

was  one  of  these  last.  At  the  time  of  the  reunion  there 
was  a  strong  desire  that  the  General  Assembly  should 
hold  the  same  relation  to  all  the  seminaries.  A  middle 
ground  was  sought  by  which  the  Directors  of  each 
should  have  entire  control  of  the  actual  work,  but  the 
Assembly  have  such  a  regulating  power  as  would  enable 
it  to  control  any  unsatisfactory  measures.  An  agree- 
ment was  therefore  entered  into  between  the  Assembly 
and  the  Seminaries  ;  but  it  was  an  agreement  without 
any  "legal  consideration"  on  either  side,  and  without 
having  in  it  any  specific  method  provided  for  its  en- 
forcement by  one  party  against  the  other  in  case  its 
terms  were  not  complied  with.  No  tribunal  is  named 
to  arbitrate  any  differences  of  interpretation  which 
might  arise  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  compact.  That 
agreement,  as  recorded  in  the  Assembly's  Minutes  of 
1870,  is  in  these  words  :  "  First  :  That  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  each  theological  seminary  shall  be  author- 
ized to  appoint  all  professors  for  the  same.  Second  : 
That  all  such  appointments  shall  be  reported  to  the 
General  Assembly,  and  no  appointment  of  a  professor 
shall  be  considered  as  a  complete  election  if  disap- 
proved by  a  majority  vote  of  the  Assembly."  By  this 
action  the  Assembly  abdicated  such  right  of  original 
election  as  it  had  held  in  any  of  the  seminaries ;  and 
the  seminaries  which  were  not  under  its  immediate  con- 
trol granted  to  the  Assembly  the  right  of  a  veto  over 
their  elections.  But  nothing  was  said  in  the  agreement 
concerning  the  matter  of  a  transfer  of  a  professor  from 
one  chair  to  another.  The  friends  of  Union  Seminary 
insisted  that  the  transfer  of  Dr.  Briggs  was  not  a  new 
election,  and  was  therefore  not  subject  to  this  veto 
power  of  the  Assembly,  since  he  had  already  for  years 


388  PRESBYTERIANS. 

been  a  professor  in  that  institution  with  the  approval  of 
the  General  Assembly.  The  overtures  assumed  that 
his  case  was  subject  to  this  veto  of  the  Assembly. 

All  the  overtures  on  the  subject  were  referred  to 
the  Standing  Committee  on  Theological  Seminaries. 
When  this  committee  made  its  report  it  adopted  the 
view  that  such  a  transfer  was  a  case  covered  by  the 
veto  power  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  recommended 
the  General  Assembly  to  "  disapprove  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  Rev.  Charles  A.  Briggs,  D.  D.,  to  the  Edward 
Robinson  Professorship  of  Biblical  Theology  in  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  by  transfer  from  another  chair 
in  the  same  Seminary."  This  recommendation  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  four  hundred  and  forty-nine  ayes 
to  sixty  nays. 

A  substitute  had  been  offered  for  this  report  recom- 
mending the  appointment  of  a  committee  "to  confer 
with  the  Directors  of  Union  Seminary  in  regard  to  the 
relation  of  the  said  seminary  to  the  General  Assembly," 
and  to  "request  the  Directors  of  Union  Seminary  to 
reconsider  the  action  by  which  Dr.  Briggs  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  chair  of  Biblical  Theology,"  and  "  to 
advise  that  in  any  case  Professor  Briggs  be  not  allowed 
to  give  instruction  during  the  year  previous  to  the  next 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly."  On  a  motion  to 
adopt  this  substitute  instead  of  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee, one  hundred  and  six  voted  in  the  affirmative  and 
three  hundred  and  sixty  in  the  negative.  The  pream- 
ble of  the  report  of  the  committee  on  theological  semi- 
naries, which  had  thus  been  adopted  by  the  Assembly, 
recognized  that  an  interpretation  might  be  put  upon 
the  agreement  between  the  seminary  and  the  Assembly 
whereby  a  transfer  from  one  chair  to  another  would  not 


389 


390  PRESBYTERIANS. 

be  subject  to  the  veto  power  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  recommended  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
confer  on  the  whole  subject  with  the  Directors  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary.  This  committee  was  appointed 
and  was  made  up  of  persons  representing  the  different 
views  submitted  to  the  Assembly. 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Assembly 
the  Board  of  Directors  of  Union  Theological  Seminary 
was  convened  to  elect  a  successor  to  Dr.  Henry  J.  Van 
Dyke,  who  had  accepted  the  position  of  Professor  of 
Theology,  but  had  recently  died.  At  that  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Directors  the  question  of  instruction  in 
Dr.  Briggs's  department  came  up,  and  after  consultation 
the  Board  decided  that  it  would  adhere  to  its  interpre- 
tation of  the  agreement  between  the  General  Assembly 
and  itself,  and  stand  by  its  appointment  of  Dr.  Briggs 
to  the  chair  of  Biblical  Theology.  This  raised  a  sharp 
issue  of  interpretation  with  regard  to  the  agreement 
between  the  General  Assembly  and  the  theological 
seminaries.  The  committee  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  the  Trustees  held  two  meetings,  but  were  not  able 
to  agree.  Each  party  adhered  to  its  own  view  of  the 
right  of  the  Assembly  in  regard  to  vetoing  a  transfer 
of  an  old  professor  from  one  chair  to  another.  Their 
disagreement  was  reported  to  the  Assembly  of  1892, 
and  the  parties  agreed  to  the  maintenance  of  the  pres- 
ent status  quo  until  further  action  by  the  General  As- 
sembly, with  this  question  left  in  abeyance  in  the  mean- 
time. 

At  the  General  Assembly  at  Portland,  in  1892,  the 
relation  of  the  theological  seminaries  came  up  in  sev- 
eral different  forms.  The  committee  to  confer  with  the 
trustees  of  Union  Seminary,   in  regard  to  the  Briggs 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN   THE   SEMINARIES.  39I 

veto,  reported  that  the  parties  were  not  able  to  agree 
upon  any  interpretation  of  the  compact.  The  trustees 
held  that  the  veto  power  of  the  Assembly  applied  only 
to  the  appointment  of  new  professors,  and  that  when 
the  Assembly  of  1891  undertook  to  exercise  a  veto 
power  on  the  transfer  of  a  professor  already  in  office, 
it  had  transcended  its  powers.  The  report  of 
the  committee  of  conference,  and  the  report  of 
the  trustees,  were  both  referred  to  the  Assem- 
bly's committee  on  theological  seminaries.  Two 
reports  were  made,  a  majority  and  a  minority  report. 
The  report  of  the  majority  of  that  committee  was 
adopted,  and  the  Assembly  thereby  declared  that,  in  its 
opinion,  the  chair  of  Biblical  Theology  in  Union  Semi- 
nary was  de  jure  (or  legally)  vacant.  The  committee 
of  conference,  owing  to  the  sickness  of  the  chairman, 
Dr.  Patton,  was  not  able  to  have  a  final  meeting,  but 
six  of  its  members  were  present  at  Portland,  and  these 
presented  a  "  supplemental  report  "  suggesting  that  the 
controversy  about  the  veto  power  of  the  Assembly, 
under  the  compact  of  1870,  should  be  submitted  to 
arbitrators.  This  suggestion  was  approved  by  the 
Assembly,  and  it  proposed  to  Union  Seminary 
that  the  matter  should  be  submitted  to  fifteen  men — 
five  to  be  selected  by  the  Assembly  and  five  by 
the  trustees  of  the  seminary,  and  these  ten,  thus  chosen, 
to  select  the  other  five.  The  Assembly  named  as  its 
five  to  act,  in  case  the  proposition  was  accepted  by  the 
seminary  :  Rev.  T.  Ralston  Smith,  I).  D.,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  B.  L.  Agnew,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  George 
Junkin,  Esq..  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  Logan  C.  Murray, 
Esq.,  New  York  ;  E.  \V.  C.  Humphrey,  Esq.,  Louis- 
ville, Ky. 


392  PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  trustees  of  Union  Seminary  presented  formally 
a  request  that  the  compact  of  1870  should  be  annulled 
and   Union  Seminary  allowed   to  withdraw  therefrom 
and  become  again,  as  it  was  before  the  reunion,  a  Pres 
byterian    seminary  managed   by  a    close    corporation 
The  Assembly  was  not  willing  to  approve  of  this  sepa 
ration,  but  preferred  arbitrating  the  differences,  in  the 
earnest  hope  that  some  practicable  and  acceptable  result 
misfht  be  reached. 

As  the  whole  subject  was  one  which  affected  all  the 
seminaries,  before  any  new  arrangement  of  the  mutual 
relations  of  the  Assembly  with  the  theological  semi- 
naries should  be  seriously  considered,  it  was  felt  that 
full  consultation  should  be  had  with  representatives  of 
each.  The  Assembly,  therefore,  appointed  a  committee 
of  fifteen  to  confer  with  all  the  theological  seminaries, 
and  in  1893  rePort,  if  possible,  some  practical  method 
of  co-operation  for  the  future.  The  names  of  that  com- 
mittee are,  ministers :  Rev.  Geo.  P.  Hays,  D.  D., 
Kansas  City,  Mo.  ;  Rev.  W.  C.  Young,  D.  D.,  Danville, 
Ky.  ;  Rev.  J.  McC.  Blayney,  Frankfort,  Ky.  ;  Rev.  S. 
A.'  Mutchmore,  D.  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  Rev.  W.  E. 
Moore,  D.  D.,  Columbus,  O.  ;  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Bartlett,  D. 
D.,  Washington,  D.  C.  ;  Rev.  Charles  T.  Haley,  Newark, 
N.  J.;  Rev.  J.  McC.  Holmes,  D.  D.,  Albany,  N.  Y.;  Rev. 
A.  G.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Hopkinton,  la.  Elders:  Thos. 
McDougall,  Esq.,  Cincinnati,  O.  ;  J.  J.  McCook,  Esq., 
New  York  ;  W.  C.  Gray,  Esq.,  Chicago,  111.  ;  Samuel 
A.  Bonner,  Esq.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Jas.  F.  Joy,  Esq., 
Detroit,  Mich.  ;  W.  B.  Negley,  Esq.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  ; 
Henry  M.  Knox,  Esq.,  St.  Paul,  Minn.  After  the 
Moderator  had  announced  the  committee,  his  own 
name  was  added  by  vote  of  the  Assembly. 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    IN    THE   SEMINARIES.  393 

The  whole  subject  of  the  relation  of  the  General  As- 
sembly to  the  theological  instruction  of  the  Church  is 
thus  brought  into  strong  prominence,  and  all  its  perplex- 
ities are  up  for  full  reconsideration.  The  early  prac- 
tice of  the  Church  was  to  select,  as  professors  in  these 
institutions,  men  who  had  acquired  scholarship  and  rep- 
utation in  their  discharge  of  pastoral  and  public  duty 
for  the  Church.  Such  men  were  generally  men  of  age 
and  settled  opinions.  The  more  recent  practice  has 
been  for  the  seminaries  to  select  younger  men  of 
marked  ability  and  special  promise  as  instructors,  and 
let  them  grow  up  as  specialists  in  the  particular  depart- 
ment which  is  thus  made  their  life-work.  This  practice 
raises,  as  an  urgent  question,  the  course  to  be  pursued 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  case  a  professor,  already 
approved  in  his  position,  should  seriously  change  his 
opinions.  The  duty  of  disciplining  a  minister  who  be- 
comes unsound  in  doctrine,  belongs  to  the  Presbytery 
of  which  he  is  a  member.  The  theological  seminaries, 
however,  bear  special  relationship  to  the  Church  at 
large  through  the  General  Assembly.  It  is  not  an  easy 
question  to  decide  upon  the  course  to  be  adopted  by 
the  General  Assembly  in  case  the  teachings  of  a  pro- 
fessor, or  the  policy  of  a  seminary,  should  become  un- 
satisfactory to  the  general  Church.  There  are  serious 
difficulties  in  every  plan. 

The  local  friends  of  a  seminary  arc  generally  the  best 
acquainted  with  its  needs,  and  the  best  fitted  to  select 
its  instructors.  Where  the  professors  are  (lee  led  by 
the  General  Assembly,  it  is  quite  possible  that  these 
local  directors  and  friends  might  select  one  candidate 
and  the;  General  Assembly  elect  another.  Such  a  result 
would  make  the   situation    embarrassing   to   all    parties. 


394  PRESBYTERIANS. 

A  person  so  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  might 
decline,  under  the  circumstances,  to  accept  the  appoint- 
ment. Or,  if  ignorant  of  all  the  facts  connected  with 
the  appointment,  the  office  should  be  accepted,  the  re- 
lations of  the  new  professor  might  be  very  embarrassing 
to  all  concerned.  Yet  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that 
the  most  intimate  and  even  confidential  relations  should 
exist  between  the  seminaries  and  the  General  Assem- 
bly. Every  legitimate  means  should  be  adopted  on 
the  part  of  the  General  Assembly  and  of  the  whole 
Church  to  nourish  and  promote  these  institutions.  The 
task  of  devising  the  most  effective  and  least  objection- 
able connection  between  the  seminaries  and  the  Church 
at  large  is  one  now  before  the  Church.  It  affects  not 
the  Presbyterian  Church  alone,  but  every  denomina- 
tion of  Christians.  The  committee  appointed  to  con- 
fer with  the  Directors  of  Union  Seminary  about  the 
difference  between  them  and  the  General  Assembly, 
might  have  considered  the  whole  question  of  the  rela- 
tion of  the  seminaries  to  the  Church.  They  have  con- 
fined themselves  to  the  one  case  now  mainly  prominent. 
The  present  phases  of  the  question  press  the  whole 
subject  upon  the  Church  for  very  careful  and  judicious 
management  and  adjustment. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

DISTINCTIVE    PECULIARITIES    OF    PRESBYTERIAN 
DENOMINATIONS. 

THERE  are  various  denominations  of  Presbyterians. 
Often  superficial  people  say  "  They  should  all 
unite.  The  differences  must  be  small."  But  these 
differences  touch  upon  such  practical  matters  that  they 
affect  church  life  and  mold  the  public  spirit  of  the 
various  denominations.  Even  the  peculiarities  of  the 
names  carry  with  them  the  associations  of  the  past 
history.  No  railroad  engine  can  run  on  every  road. 
There  may  not  be  a  mathematical  and  mechanical  reason 
why  so  many  roads  have  the  gauge  of  four  feet  eight  and 
a  half  inches,  but  its  name  "compromise  gauge,"  or 
"  standard  gauge,"  shows  that  there  is  a  history  back 
of  it.  Those  who  will  run  their  trains  on  it  must  con- 
form to  its  limitations.  The  word  "Cumberland"  has 
no  theological  meaning.  It  is  a  geographical  term. 
But  the  Presbytery,  to  which  the  early  founders  of  that 
denomination  of  Presbyterians  belonged,  was  called 
the  "Cumberland  Presbytery"  from  its  geographical 
location,  and  that  name  is  historic.  The  name  "  \J nited 
Presbyterian"  would  have  well  suited  the  Church  after 
the  union  of  the  "  Old  School  "  and  the  "  New  School," 
but  already  the  Associate  and  Associate  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Churches  had  united  and  taken  that  name. 
The  word  "  united,"  in  the.  name,  "United  States  of 
America,"   has  just   such  a  history  in    itself.      So,  when 

395 


396  PRESBYTERIANS. 

"The  United  Presbyterian  Church  "  was  formed,  the 
brethren  did  not  want  to  be  embarrassed  in  the  future, 
if  they  should  have  Churches  in  Canada  or  Mexico. 
They  adopted  the  name  "The  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  North  America."  Serious  national  preju- 
dices are  excited  by  the  "  U.  S.  A."  of  the  church 
name  borne  by  the  missionaries  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  they  work  in  Mexico.  The  exact  official 
name  adopted  by  the  several  denominations  represented 
in  this  book  are  given  in  the  title  page  in  connection 
with  the  names  of  the  writers  of  the  special  chapters. 
The  governing  body  in  each  congregation  of  Pres- 
byerians  is  the  church  Session.  This  consists  of  the 
pastor  (when  there  is  one)  and  the  elders.  Of  these 
last  there  may  be  one  or  more.  The  money  collected 
for  the  poor  of  a  particular  church  is  administered  by 
its  deacons.  All  other  matters  are  ultimately  under  the 
control  of  the  Session.  This  control  may  be  exercised 
with  great  leniency,  and  great  prudence  will  be  needed ; 
but  when  any  controversy  arises,  the  authority  to  de- 
cide it  is  legally  with  the  Session,  as  a  Session  and  not 
as  individual  elders.  This  control  includes  the  Sab- 
bath-school, the  music,  the  societies  of  the  Church,  the 
taking  of  collections,  the  appointment  of  services  and 
all  such  matters.  The  control  which  the  trustees  have 
over  the  church  property  is  simply  as  trustees  to  hold 
the  title  for  the  uses  of  the  congregation.  The  uses 
are  to  be  determined  by  the  Session.  In  the  eye  of  the 
civil  law,  rules  of  church  Government  are  modes  of  ar- 
bitration,  just  as  are,  also,  the  laws  of  secret  societies 
or  benevolent  associations.  Each  member  of  a  Church 
agrees  to  these  church  laws  when  he  joins  the  Church. 
He  enters  at  his  will  and    leaves  at    his  pleasure  ;   and, 


PRESBYTERIAN    DENOMINATIONAL   PECULIARITIES.      397 

therefore,  church  property  will  follow  the  rules  and  be 
subject  to  the  decisions  of  the  highest  court  of  the  de- 
nomination to  which  the  Church  belongs.  Judge  North- 
rup,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  an  address  to  his  brother 
elders  on  this  point,  says  :  "  The  control  of  the  church 
edifice  is  a  fruitful  source  of  misunderstanding  and  dis- 
agreement.  The  trustees  must  keep  it  in  repair, 
warmed,  lighted  and  fit  for  occupancy  for  all  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  is  required  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Session,  and  there,  substantially,  the  duty  of  the  trus- 
tees ends."  The  same  view  is  held  by  the  Missouri 
Court  in  "  North  St.  Louis  Christian  Church  vs. 
McGowen  (62  Mo.,  p.  279)  and  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Court  in  McGinnis  vs.  Watson  (41  Penn.,  p.  9). 

This  relation  between  civil  trustees  and  church 
courts  is  thus  decided  by  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  in  Watson  vs.  Jones,  13  Wallace,  679:  "The 
trustees  of  the  Church  are  mere  nominal  title  holders 
and  custodians  of  the  church  property.  In  the  use  of 
the  property  for  all  religious  services  or  ecclesiastical 
purposes  the  trustees  are  under  the  control  of  the 
Session."  This  decision  is  cited  and  followed  by  the 
Missouri  Court,  in  the  Lindenwood  College  case  (State 
ex  rel.  Watson  vs.  Faris,  45  Mo.,  p.  183).  One  of  the 
most  recent  cases  is  that  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Louisiana  (State  ex  rel.  Soares  vs.  Hebrew  Congre- 
gation "  Dispersed  of  Judah,"  31  La.,  205).  From  that 
opinion  the  following  is  quoted  :  "All  who  unite  them- 
selves to  such  a  body  do  so  with  an  implied  consent  to 
its  government,  and  are  bound  to  submit  to  it.  But  it 
would  be  a  vain  consent,  and  would  lead  to  the  total 
subversion  of  such  religious  bodies,  if  anyone,  aggrieved 
by  one  of  their  decisions,  could    appeal  to  the   secular 


398  PRESBYTERIANS. 

courts  and  have  them  reversed.  It  is  of  the  essence  of 
these  religious  unions,  and  of  their  right  to  establish 
tribunals  for  the  decision  of  the  questions  arising  among 
themselves,  that  these  decisions  should  be  binding  in 
all  cases  of  ecclesiastical  cognizance,  subject  only  to 
such  appeals  as  the  organism  itself  provides  for." 

The  Louisiana  Court  then  supports  its  opinion  by  cit- 
ing Harmon  vs.  Dreher,  2  Speer,  Eq.  87  (S.  C.),as  "one 
of  the  most  careful  and  well-considered  judgments  upon 
the  subject."  This  case  is  also  cited  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  (Watson  vs.  Jones,  quoted  above):  "  It 
belongs  not  to  the  civil  power  to  enter  or  review  the 

proceedings  of   a  spiritual  court When  a  civil 

right  depends  upon  an  ecclesiastical  matter,  it  is  the 
civil  court,  and  not  the  ecclesiastical,  which  is  to  decide. 
But  the  civil  tribunal  tries  the  civil  right  and  no  more, 
taking  the  ecclesiastical  decisions  out  of  which  the  civil 
right  arises  as  it  finds  them." 

Kentucky  courts  are  then  cited  :  "  In  Kentucky  the 
binding  force  and  completeness  of  the  Church's  action 
is  thus  stated  (Lucas,  vs.  Case,  9  Bush,  p.  297):  '  Every 
person  entering  into  the  Church  impliedly,  at  least,  if 
not  expressly,  covenants  to  conform  to  the  rules  of  the 
Church,  to  submit  to  its  authority  and  discipline.  Ap- 
pellant, when  he  became  a  member  thereof,  placed  him. 

self    in    this    condition Whether    in    what    the 

Church  did  it  acted  right  or  wrong,  the  court  cannot 
approach  its  precincts  to  inquire,  and  is  powerless  to 
redress  any  wrong  inflicted  on  appellant  thereby.  By 
becoming  a  member  of  the  Church  he  subjected  himself 
to  its  ecclesiastical  power,  and  neither  this  nor  any 
other  earthly  tribunal  can  supervise  or  control  that 
jurisdiction.' ,: 


Presbyterian  denominational  peculiarities.    399 

After  making  the  preceding  citations  in  support  of 
their  decision  the  Louisiana  court  closes  its  opinion  as 
follows:  "The  judicatory  provided  by  those  laws  has 
acted  upon  the  matter  now  before  this  court,  and  we 
cannot  go  behind  its  action  to  inquire  whether  it  acted 
rightly  or  wrongfully,  justly  or  unjustly.  It  is  the 
tribunal  to  which  the  appellant  submitted  himself  when 
he  accepted  membership  of  the  congregation,  and  its 
action  is  not  examinable  in  a  civil  court." 

The  civil  courts  hold  that  the  spiritual  courts  are  the 
exclusive  judges  of  their  own  jurisdiction,  and  so  the 
secular  courts  will,  in  such  spiritual  matters,  accept  and 
follow  the  rulings  of  the  church  courts  and  make  prop- 
erty rights  conform  to  these  decisions.  Every  denom- 
ination has  decided  for  itself  whether  among  its  mem- 
bers there  shall  be  a  right  of  appeal  from  one  tribunal 
to  some  higher,  or  not.  The  Presbyterian  Church  has 
decided  this  matter  in  the  affirmative. 

In  every  case  the  church  Session  is  under  the  control 
of  the  Presbytery  to  which  it  belongs.  Any  matter 
may  be  brought  before  that  Presbytery  by  appeal  or 
complaint,  and  carried  from  the  Presbytery  to  the 
Synod  in  the  same  way.  In  the  Presbyterian  Church 
(North)  appeals  from  the  Synod  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly are  limited  to  cases  involving  doctrine  or  govern- 
ment. In  the  other  Presbyterian  Churches  appeals 
from  the  Synod  to  the  General  Assembly  are  allowed 
in  all  cases.  Any  court,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  may  err, 
and  there  must  be  somewhere  an  end  of  litigation.  11 
it  seems  to  any  person  hard  that  in  his  case  there  can 
be  no  appeal  from  the  church  courts  to  the  civil  court, 
he  must  remember  that  the  civil  courts  may  err  and 
have  erred,  and  that    there:    is    no   more    reason    for   an 


400  PRESBYTERIANS. 

appeal  from  the  highest  church  court  to  the  civil  court 
than  there  is  for  an  appeal  from  the  supreme  civil  court 
to  the  church  court. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  differences 
among  the  Presbyterian  Churches  are  in  regard  to 
doctrine  and  Church  management  and  not  in  reference 
to  Church  government.  Two  great  systems  of  Church 
doctrine  divide  evangelical  Protestantism.  These  are 
popularly  known  as  the  Calvinistic  and  Arminian 
systems.  Their  fundamental  difference  lies  in  their 
central  conception  of  theology.  The  Calvinist  begins 
with  divine  sovereignty,  and  makes  the  theory  of  man 
and  of  salvation  subordinate  to  that.  The  Arminian 
begins  with  man  and  his  free  agency,  and  makes  the 
doctrine  of  God  accommodate  itself  to  that  free  agency. 
All  the  Calvinistic  denominations  hold  and  preach  the 
great  evangelical  doctrines  of  Christendom.  They  are 
foremost  in  asserting  them,  and  none  are  more  zealous 
than  Calvinists  in  preaching  such  fundamental  doctrines 
as  these  :  The  unity  of  the  Godhead  and  the  Trinity  of 
persons  therein,  the  sufficiency  and  the  infallible 
authority  of  the  Scriptures,  the  helplessness  of  man  in 
consequence  of  the  fall,  the  recovery  and  salvation  of 
sinners  by  the  Redeemer,  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God,  his  atonement,  and  all  his  mediatorial  work  and 
offices,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  conversion 
and  sanctification  of  the  sinner,  the  sinner's  interest  in 
the  finished  work  of  Christ,  and  his  justification  by  faith 
alone,  the  second  advent  of  Christ  to  judgment,  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  and  the  eternal  separation  of 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  But  the  Calvinistic  or 
Augustinian  system  specially  holds  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  divine  sovereignty,  or  that  God  foresaw  and  planned 


4OI 


402  PRESBYTERIANS. 

for  whatsoever  comes  to  pass.  Like  the  Bible  it  begins 
with  the  first  four  words  of  Genesis,  "  In  the  beginning 
God."  Calvinism  asserts  the  doctrine  of  original  sin, 
which  is  to  say  that  the  fall  of  Adam  is  the  source  from 
which  comes  the  sinfulness  of  all  his  posterity,  and  that 
in  this  corruption  all  his  posterity,  adults  and  infants, 
are  involved,  and  if  saved  must  be  regenerated  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  redeemed  by  Christ.  Calvinism  holds 
the  doctrine  of  total  depravity ;  that  is  to  say,  that 
this  corruption  with  reference  to  God  and  as 
viewed  by  him  extends  to  every  part.  It  does  not 
hold,  as  some  misrepresenting  it  say,  that  every 
man  is  as  bad  as  he  can  be,  but  that  there  is  no  part 
of  him  that  is  so  free  from  sin  that  it  is  acceptable 
to  God.  Calvinism  asserts  the  doctrine  of  efficacious 
grace  ;  which  is,  that  man  of  himself  is  so  dead  in  sin 
that  he  cannot  of  himself  be  born  anew,  but  that  this 
New  Birth  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  must  be 
begun  by  that  Spirit  ;  and  that  Holy  Spirit  being  omnip- 
otent his  work  herein  is  always  efficacious.  Though 
constantly  resisted  his  work  is  not  able  to  be  success- 
fully and  finally  resisted  when  the  Holy  Spirit  comes 
with  his  almighty  power.  As  the  Holy  Spirit  knows 
and  has  from  eternity  known  what  he  will  do,  and  on 
whom  he  will  through  providences  and  by  His  immedi- 
ate power  exert  his  saving  work,  he  does  not  work 
by  emergency.  He  intends  to  do  what  he  does  do. 
That  is  election.  Calvinists  believe  that  there  is  cer* 
tainly  an  election,  and  that  the  child  born  of  Christian 
parents  in  the  center  of  a  Christian  community,  and 
wrought  upon  by  the  Omnipotence  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
has  a  better  chance  than  a  child  providentially  born  in 
the  heart  of  Africa,  or  in  the  slums  of  the  cities.      C^al- 


PRESBYTERIAN   DENOMINATIONAL    PECULIARITIES.      403 

vinistsalso  hold  to  the  per -severance  of  the  saints  ;  which 
is,  that  as  the  Christian  is  regenerated  by  the  omnip- 
otent power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  by  that  omnipotent 
power  such  grace  will  be  forthcoming  as  is  needed  to 
keep  the  Christian  from  finally  falling  away.  Through 
chastisement,  encouragement  and  blessing  he  shall,  at 
last,  be  brought  into  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

Arminians,  on  the  other  hand,  begin  by  holding  that 
absolute  freedom,  both  as  to  ability  and  will,  is  neces- 
sary to  responsibility.  Therefore,  though  men  are 
fallen  they  are  not  of  themselves  entirely  unable  to  re- 
turn from  sin  to  holiness,  but  are  able  to  co-operate  in 
the  New  Birth  with  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  given 
equally  to  all  men.  The  question  whether  a  man  will 
persevere  or  not  depends  on  himself,  and  not  on  God. 
Arminians  hold  election  to  be  conditioned  on  man's 
conduct.  Grace  and  faith  are,  they  say,  resistible  ; 
and  therefore  those  that  are  really  regenerated  may  fall 
away  and  return,  or  may  finally  and  totally  apostatize 
from  God.  Generally,  Arminians  hold  to  the  doctrine 
of  Christian  perfection,  though  among  them  there  are 
great  differences  over  this  doctrine,  as  well  as  most  of 
their  other  peculiar  doctrines. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church  holds  steadfast  to 
the  Westminster  Standards  as  their  standards  of  doc- 
trine. In  addition  to  this,  it  issues  what  is  called  a 
"Testimony  of  the  Church,"  enlarging,  elucidating  and 
applying  its  doctrines  to  the  present  phases  of  duty  and 
the  present  condition  of  the  Church  and  country. 
"United  Presbyterians,"  by  W.  J.  Reid,  is  a  standard 
book.  In  many  respects  the  Testimony  is  simply  a  more 
definite  statement  than  that  of  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly on  certain  points  now  controverted,  and  raised  since 


404  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  sitting  of  that  Assembly  in  1648.  Three  things, 
specially,  are  the  distinctive  principles  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church.  One  is  Article  XVIII.  of  the 
Testimony,  with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  Psalms  of 
David  in  public  worship.  The  United  Presbyterian 
Church  holds  that  these  Psalms  were  given  by  inspira- 
tion to  be  used  in  public  worship,  and  no  substitute  was 
furnished  by  inspiration  when  the  Spirit  gave  the  New 
Testament.  The  metrical  version,  to  be  used  by  any 
Church  in  its  public  worship,  should  be  as  correct  a 
translation  in  meter  or  chantable  prose  as  that  Church 
is  able  to  make  from  the  original  Hebrew  Psalter.  This 
inspired  Psalmody,  having  for  its  thought  that  which 
was  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost  with  a  view  to  being 
used  in  worship,  will  be  better  than  any  uninspired  ex- 
pression of  truth,  though  that  may  be  in  its  measure 
scriptural  truth.  In  its  early  history,  this  Church  used 
the  Scottish  Version  of  the  Psalms,  sometimes  called 
Rouse's  Version.  It  is  now  using  a  version  of  its  own 
made  by  a  committee  of  its  General  Assembly.  This 
version  its  people  believe  to  be  a  more  correct  render- 
ing of  the  original  Psalms,  and  better  adapted  than 
any  other  to  the  present  uses  of  their  Church.  As  this 
peculiarity  of  their  worship  is  obvious  to  strangers,  be- 
cause it  occurs  in  their  public  Sabbath  worship,  it  is 
perhaps  more  known  than  others. 

Article  XVI.  of  the  "Testimony,"  on  "  Communion," 
goes  to  the  question,  "Who  are  to  be  admitted  to  the 
sealing  ordinances  of  the  Church?"  It  is  there  held 
that,  if  the  Church  has  a  testimony  important  to  be 
borne  in  the  world,  those  who  are  admitted  to  the 
sealing  ordinances  of  the  New  Testament  Church 
should   adhere  to  that  testimony.      If  persons  believe 


PRESBYTERIAN   DENOMINATIONAL   PECULIARITIES.      40$ 

that  the  testimony  so  made  is  agreeable  to  and  founded 
upon  the  Word  of  God,  they  ought  to  unite  with  the 
Church  through  the  session,  the  divinely  appointed 
court  in  the  Presbyterian  order.  If  people  do  not  so 
believe,  then  they  ought  to  unite  with  the  Church  with 
which  they  agree.  Therefore,  the  Testimony  says  : 
"The  Church  should  not  extend  communion  in  sealing 
ordinances  to  those  who  refuse  adherence  to  its  pro- 
fessions or  subjection  to  its  government  and  discipline, 
or  who  refuse  to  forsake  a  communion  which  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  profession  it  makes."  The  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  has  decided  that  "  Sessions,  in 
the  exercise  of  a  wise  discretion,  must  dispose  of  excep- 
tional cases  as  may  be  for  the  peace  and  edification  of 
the  Church." 

Article  XV.  of  the  "  Testimony  "  "  on  secret  societies  " 
is  a  protest  against  such  associations.  It  is  there  held 
that  their  use  of  the  oath  is  a  profanation  of  that  ordi- 
nance, and  that  these  societies  interfere  with  the  Church 
of  God  and  oftentimes  furnish  a  substitute  for  the  true 
religion.  Therefore  the  "Testimony"  declares  them 
"  inconsistent  with  the  genius  and  spirit  of  Christianity," 
and  that  Church  members  ought  not  to  have  fellowship 
with  them.  Previous  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  this 
Church  always  held  that  slaveholding  was  sinful,  and 
did  not  allow  slaveholders  to  remain  in  full  communion 
with  the  body.  It  has,  since  the  war,  been  efficient  in 
work  among  the  Freedmen,  and  believes  that  it  is  best 
for  the  colored  people;  to  be  in  the:  same  Presbyteries, 
Synods  and  Assemblies  with  the  white  members.  It  has 
not  been  able  to  any  large  extent  to  secure  the  union  of 
their  white  and  colored  members  in  the  same  congrega- 
tions, though  this  is  perhaps  much  more  generally  done 


406  PRESBYTERIANS. 

in  the  United  Presbyterian  Churches  than  it  is  in  other 
denominations  through  the  South.  Presbyterians  be- 
lieve that  the  colored  ministers,  elders  and  churches  will 
more  rapidly  learn  Presbyterian  ways  and  doctrines  by 
mingling  as  members  in  the  general  ecclesiastical  meet- 
ings, and  be  less  liable  to  make  mistakes  through  their 
ignorance  and  inexperience,  than  if  they  were  in  organ- 
izations of  their  own.  They  believe  that  to  put  them 
in  separate  Presbyteries  would  be  to  make  color  a 
"line"  of  distinction  between  Christian  brethren. 

The  Reformed  Presbyterian  (Covenanter)  Church 
uses  only  as  its  Standards  of  doctrine  those  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly.  In  its  public  worship  it  con- 
tinues to  use  the  Scotch  Version  of  the  Psalms.  It  also 
uses  with  this  aversion  of  its  own,  leaving  each  congre- 
gation to  enjoy  its  own  preference.  The  Covenanter 
Church  opposes  secret  societies  and  holds  the  doctrine 
of  close  communion.  It  declines  to  allow  its  ministers 
and  members  to  vote,  as  this  would  be  "  incorporating  " 
themselves  into  this  government,  and  holds  that  civil 
government  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  and  that  this  gov- 
ernment ought  in  some  explicit  way  to  recognize  the 
responsibility  of  civil  governments  to  the  divine  gov- 
ernment of  Jesus  Christ.  In  its  work  among  the  col- 
ored people  of  this  country  this  Church  unites  colored 
ministers,  elders  and  churches  in  the  same  Church 
judicatories  with  the  neighboring  whites. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  has  from  the 
outset  extensively  changed  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
while  not  accepting  all  the  Arminian  positions,  it  only 
adopts  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  with  such 
abridgments,  eliminations  and  alterations  as  make  it 
conform    to    the    views  of  that    denomination.       That 


PRESBYTERIAN   DENOMINATIONAL   PECULIARITIES.      407 

Church  claims  to  occupy  a  middle  ground  between  the 
two  extremes  of  Calvinism  and  Arminianism.  It  holds 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  fall  of  the  race  under  Adam,  and 
the  necessity  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regenera- 
tion, and  that  Adam's  posterity  are  so  wholly  depraved 
that  they  must  be  born  again.  Justification  is  by  faith 
alone  as  the  instrument,  by  the  merits  of  Christ's  active 
and  passive  obedience  as  the  meritorious  cause,  and  by 
the  operation  of  God's  spirit  as  the  efficient  or  active 
cause.  Cumberland  Presbyterians  hold  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints,  but  prefer  to  call  the 
doctrine  by  the  name  of  the  preservation  of  the  saints. 
They  positively  deny  the  doctrine  generally  known  as 
"  falling  from  grace."  On  the  subject  of  their  difference 
from  the  Westminster  Confession,  the  "Cumberland 
Presbyterian  History"  by  McDonnold,  p.  99,  quotes 
approvingly  this  oft-published  statement  of  their  dissent 
from  the  Westminster  Confession  :  "  1st.  That  there 
are  no  eternal  reprobates ;  2d.  That  Christ  did  not 
die  for  a  part  only,  but  for  all  mankind ;  3d.  That 
all  infants  dying  in  infancy  are  saved  through  Christ 
and  the  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  ;  4th.  That  the 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  coextensive  with  the 
atonement — that  is,  on  the  whole  world  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  leave  it  without  excuse."  An  admirable  state- 
ment on  the  subject  of  its  doctrinal  belief  may  be  found 
in  Crissman's  "Origin  and  History  of  the  Cumberland 
Church." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  by  them  the  Westminster  Stand- 
ards are  interpreted  as  asserting  that  some  infants  are 
lost.  Those  who  hold  to  these  Standards  disagree 
with  this  interpretation,  and  understand  the  assertion 
to  be  that  infants  to  be  saved  must  be  elected,  regener- 


408  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ated  and  sanctified  as  truly  as  are  the  adults.  The 
Cumberland  Church,  in  its  early  history,  in  view  of  the 
revivals  then  existing-  and  the  great  need  of  ministers, 
adopted  the  policy  of  licensing  men  who  had  not  had  a 
college  training  and  taking  charge  of  their  further  edu- 
cation while  they  were  preaching.  The  Church  always 
held  that  education  was  desirable,  but  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  secure  as  many  highly  educated  ministers 
as  were  needed  ;  and  wherever  men  showed  themselves 
efficient,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  the  Church  should 
license  them. 

It  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  work  among-  the  colored 
people  of  the  country,  but  agrees  with  its  own  colored 
ministry  and  membership  in  holding  that  it  is  best  for 
the  colored  people  that  they  should  be  in  Churches, 
Presbyteries,  Synods  and  Assemblies  of  their  own, 
wherever  there  are  enough  of  them.  This  is  held  to 
be  best  for  the  colored  people,  because  they  will  in  that 
way  most  speedily  learn  Presbyterian  methods.  As  in 
chemistry,  the  pupil  learns  most  by  making  the  ex- 
periment himself  instead  of  by  watching  the  professor,  so 
the  colored  people,  having  on  themselves  the  responsi- 
bility of  managing  themselves,  will  most  rapidly  become 
familiar  with  the  doctrines  and  the  routine  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Church  to  which  they  belong.  A  colored 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Assembly  has  been  organized 
with  the  co-operation  of  all  parties  interested.  Their 
colored  people,  like  those  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  prefer  this  separate  organization. 
The  colored  people  of  the  whole  country  are  by  no 
means  agreed  among  themselves  as  to  what  is  best  for 
their  religious  success.  The  whole  question  was  fully 
considered  in   the    Cumberland    Presbyterian    General 


1'RESBYTERIAN   DENOMINATIONAL    PECULIARITIES.      409 

Assembly  at   Huntsville,  Ala.,   in  1873,  and  the  result 
was  this  arrangement  of  a  separate  organization. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  (South)  has  not  desired 
any  revision  of  the  Confession  of  Faith.  It  prefers 
the  Westminster  Standards  unchanged,  and  finds  in 
them  a  satisfactory  statement  of  Christian  doctrine. 
The  leading  distinctive  peculiarities  of  this  Church 
consist  of  its  doctrines  of  the  spirituality  of  the 
Church,  its  preference  for  Committees  instead  of 
Boards  for  church  enterprises,  its  purpose  for  separate 
Presbyteries  and  Synods  wherever  sufficient  material 
can  be  found  in  their  work  among  the  colored  people. 
An  excellent  statement  of  their  position  is  found  in  the 
"  Memorial  Addresses,"  delivered  before  the  Quarter- 
Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the 
Southern  Assembly.  Thornwell's  "Collected  Writ- 
ings," Vol.  IV.,  on  "Ecclesiastical  Subjects,"  discusses 
the  question  of  Boards,  the  spirituality  of  the  Church, 
and  contains  the  "  Address  to  all  the  Churches  of  Jesus 
Christ  throughout  the  World"  as  issued  by  their  first 
General  Assembly  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  in  1861.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  spirituality  of  the  Church  is  that  the  Church 
is  such  a  kingdom  of  God  as  separates  it  distinctively 
from  the  governments  of  this  world,  and  this  in  such  a 
sense  that  the  Church  is  not  judicially  to  deal  with 
secular  questions,  but  is  to  devote  itself  solely  to  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  promotion  of  spiritual  en- 
terprises and  interests,  and  the  suppression  of  public: 
and  private  vice  and  crime,  by  preaching  the  gospel. 
The  Southern  Church  judicatories,  therefore,  do  not 
pass  resolutions  upon  a  large  number  of  questions 
which  are  considered  and  acted  upon  by  many  other 
Presbyterian    bodies.      It  is  oftentimes  difficult  to   de- 


4io 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


cide  when  this  rule  would  exclude  a  subject,  or  what 
form    of    expression    of   religious  conviction    it    would 


PRESBYTERIAN    EYE,    EAR    AND    THROAT    HOSPITAL,    BALTIMORE,    MD. 

justify;  but  on  practical  questions  where  the  issue  is 
clearly  defined,  the  line  of  duty  is  not  hard  to  discover. 
On    the  question    of  church  Boards  it  holds  that    the 


PRESBYTERIAN    DENOMINATIONAL   PECULIARITIES.      41  I 

Boards  are  apt  to  become  self-perpetuating  bodies,  and 
by  being  incorporated  become  so  far  irresponsible  to 
the  Assemblies  appointing  them  that  they  become  in- 
dependent organizations,  and  oftentimes  manage  the 
Church,  instead  of  the  Church  managing  them.  To 
remedy  this  evil  their  General  Assembly  simply  ap- 
points Executive  Committees  which  have  for  a  year 
the  work  of  the  Assembly  committed  to  them  under 
the  Assembly's  instruction,  to  be  carried  on  until  the 
next  meeting.  In  this  way  the  Assembly  has  com- 
plete control  of  every  form  of  work,  and  is  compelled 
every  year  to  appoint  persons  of  its  own  selection  to 
the  different  departments  to  manage  the  work  as 
directed.  This  Church  holds  that  it  is  best  for  the 
colored  people  to  be  in  separate  Presbyteries  and 
Synods.  By  this  there  is  no  intention  of  estab- 
lishing a  "  color  line,"  or,  indeed,  of  making  any  dis- 
tinction on  that  basis.  Its  General  Assembly,  on  a 
judicial  case,  has  specifically  declared  that  the  ordina- 
tion of  a  colored  minister  has  precisely  the  same  effect 
as  the  ordination  of  a  white  minister,  and  that  he  is  a 
member  of  Presbyteries  and  Synods  just  as  others  are. 
There  are  numerous  colored  members  and  ministers  in 
the  Presbyteries,  but  where  there  are  enough  of  them 
it  is  believed  to  be  best  that  they  should  be  in  Pres- 
byteries and  Synods  managed  by  themselves.  Council 
and  assistance  are  always  given  with  the  greatest  readi- 
ness, and  a  Colored  Institute,  under  efficient  man- 
agement from  the  General  Assembly,  is  carried  on 
at  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.  An  Excutive  Committee  on 
Colored  Evangelization  is  also  appointed  by  the  As- 
sembly. 

The   two    Presbyterian    denominations    whose   exact 


412  PRESBYTERIANS. 

« 

names  are  most  similar  are  the  Northern  and  Southern 
Presbyterian.  The  only  difference  is  that  the  Northern 
adds  to  the  end  of  its  name  the  words  "of  America," 
and  the  other  omits  these.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
(North)  has  in  many  respects  amended  the  form  of 
government,  has  almost  entirely  changed  the  Westmin- 
ster Book  of  Discipline  and  is  now  revising  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  but  within  Calvinistic  lines.  It  consti- 
tutes Presbyteries  and  Synods  by  geographical  lines  by 
putting  all  ministers  and  churches  (white  or  colored)  in 
the  same  bodies.  It  uses  hymns  in  its  service  of  praise, 
insists  on  an  educated  ministry,  admits  members  of  se- 
cret societies  to  membership,  practices  open  communion, 
expresses  its  opinions  on  all  moral  and  philanthropic 
questions  by  resolutions  of  the  General  x^ssembly,  and 
carries  on  its  benevolent  work  through  eight  Boards  of 
the  Church. 


J.    R.   W.   SLOANE,  D.  D. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

REFORMED    PRESBYTERIAN    (COVENANTER)    CHURCH. 

AT  the  organization  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Scotland  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  ministers 
and  people  followed  the  example  of  Moses  at  Sinai,  and 
entered  into  a  national  covenant.  They  believed  the 
conduct  of  Moses  and  the  Hebrews  in  repeating-  their 
Covenant  on  the  Plains  of  Moab,  and  Joshua  and  the 
Israelites  in  repeating  this  covenant  afterward  at 
Shechem,  completely  authorized  the  binding  of  rulers 
and  people  by  a  formal  bond  to  the  recognition  of 
Almighty  God  as  the  Ruler,  and  his  law  as  the  stand- 
ard of  morals  in  every  relation  of  life.  The  Church 
and  the  nation  are  both  of  divine  ordinance  ;  and  while 
their  fields  of  authority  and  operation  are  wholly  inde- 
pendent and  distinct,  yet  each  in  its  own  sphere  is 
bound  to  recognize  the  government  of  God,  and  in  the 
duties  which  belong  to  it  is  bound  to  obey  the  divine 
will.  The  Church  is  not  to  domineer  over  the  state, 
as  does  the  Pope  ;  neither  is  the  State  to  domineer 
over  the  Church,  which  is  Erastianism.  Jesus  Christ, 
as  head  of  the  Church  and  ruler  of  the  nation,  holds 
each  to  accountability  for  the  discharge  of  its  own 
duties,  and  for  non-interference  with  the  prerogatives 
of  the  other.  Whatever  may  be  the  office  of  govern- 
ment, the  moral  law  should  be  its  code  of  morals,  and 
it  should  recognize  in  national  and  international  affairs 
its  responsibility  to  the  divine  authority. 

413 


414  PRESBYTERIANS. 

On  these  principles,  in  1580,  the  people  of  Scotland 
prepared  the  National  Covenant  of  Scotland,  and  that 
Covenant  was  subscribed  to  by  all  ranks  of  the  people. 
But  it  is  hard  to  bind  effectually  a  state  officer  who  has 
no  conscience,  in  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty. 
When,  therefore,  in  1603,  King  James  became  king  of 
both  Scotland  and  England,  he  had  no  scruples  about 
violating  his  oaths  to  the  Scottish  nation.  The  Eng- 
lish Puritans  had  great  expectations  based  upon  the 
ascendency  of  that  oath-bound  Protestant  king  to  the 
English  throne.  James  cherished  great  expectations 
of  escaping  from  his  bondage  to  his  duty,  under  his  oath 
in  Scotland,  by  becoming  a  monarch  in  England  and 
head  of  the  Church.  When,  therefore,  the  attempt  of 
his  son  Charles  to  establish  prelacy  in  Scotland  in  1638 
issued  in  a  riot,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Scotch  people 
renewed  their  National  Covenant,  and  in  1643  adopted 
the  "  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,"  proposing  that  it 
should  become  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  kingdom. 
A  comparatively  small  number  of  the  Scotch  Presby- 
terians finally  adhered  to  their  principles,  sacrificing 
their  Church  relations.  The  restoration  of  Charles  and 
the  ascendency  of  James  II.  brought  on  the  Cove- 
nanters all  forms  of  persecution  and  banishment.  Many 
were  martyred,  many  submitted,  and  many  gave  up 
the  Covenant.  In  1680  Cameron  and  Cargill,  as  the 
leaders  of  the  resolute  remnant,  issued  the  "  Sanquhar 
Declaration."  That  same  year  Cameron  perished,  and 
the  next  year  Cargill  was  executed  at  Edinburgh.  This 
left  their  followers  without  a  minister. 

If  ever  a  communion  of  lay  Christians  proved  their 
ability  to  maintain  their  denomination  without  a  minis- 
try, the  Covenanter  Church  has  achieved  this  success. 


REFORMED   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  415 

In  Scotland  and  in  this  country  its  people  have  been  at 
different  times,  and  for  years,  without  a  ministry  ;  but 
in  each  case  they  have  betaken  themselves  to  the 
course  pursued  by  their  Scotch  ancestry  after  the  death 
of  Cargill.  They  organized  a  system  of  societies  among 
themselves,  and  met  as  often  as  they  could.  The  Amer- 
ican Covenanters  are  the  lineal  descendants  of  these 
Scotch  Presbyterians,  and  hold  fast  to  their  testimony 
for  the  obligation  of  nations  to  recognize  the  dominion 
of  Christ.  At  the  Revolution  of  1688,  many  of  the 
Covenanters  were  not  satisfied  with  the  settlement 
made  at  the  ascension  of  William  and  Mary.  By  that 
arrangement  royal  supremacy  of  the  Church  was 
recognized  in  the  establishment  of  Episcopacy  in  Eng- 
land and  Ireland,  and  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland. 
The  other  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  accepted  the 
arrangement,  but  the  Covenanters  believed  that  the 
principles  were  just  as  much  violated  by  having  a  king 
the  head  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  not  bound  in 
his  national  duty  to  recognize  the  government  of  God, 
as  if  the  particular  Church  which  he  recognized  had 
been  some  other  denomination. 

Large  numbers  of  these  testifying  people  had  come 
to  this  country  previous  to  that  date.  Very  many  more 
came  afterward.  In  1752  Rev.  John  Cuthbertson 
arrived  in  America  from  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland.  He  was  afterward  joined  by 
Rev.  Messrs.  Linn  and  Dobbin,  from  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland.  These  organized  a 
Presbytery  in  1774,  and  became  a  distinct  ecclesiastical 
body  in  North  America.  In  1782  a  movement  was 
made  for  the  union  of  the  Covenanter  Church  and  the 
Associate    Church    of    the    United    States.      Into    this 


416  PRESBYTERIANS. 

union  all  of  the  Covenanter  ministers  went,  but  many 
of  the  people  were  not  satisfied  with  the  union.  For  a 
season  the  people  maintained  their  denominational 
existence  without  the  presence  in  this  country  of  any 
minister,  or  any  Presbyterial  organization.  As  they 
came  to  this  country  in  little  groups  or  single  families, 
the  Scotch  Covenanters  scattered  themselves  all  up  and 
down  the  Atlantic  coast.  Some  settled  in  New  Eng- 
land, others  in  New  Jersey,  very  many  in  Eastern 
Pennsylvania,  and  quite  a  goodly  number  in  South 
Carolina.  Many  of  these  immigrants  identified  them- 
selves with  those  who  refused  to  go  into  the  union.  It 
was  difficult  for  these  pastorless  people  thus  scattered 
to  maintain  their  unity  and  acquaintance  with  each 
other.  Through  the  fifteen  years  that  succeeded  the 
union  of  the  Covenanter  and  Associate  Churches,  at 
varying  intervals,  five  ministers,  Revs.  Reid,  McGar- 
ragh,  King,  McKinney  and  Gibson,  and  two  theological 
students,  Messrs.  Black  and  Wylie,  came  over  from 
their  respective  Presbyteries  in  Ireland  and  Scotland. 
In  1798  Revs.  McKinney  and  Gibson,  with  a  number  of 
Ruling  Elders,  reconstituted  the  Reformed  Presbytery 
of  America,  at  Philadelphia.  They  appointed  three 
committees  for  the  management  of  Church  affairs  in 
the  different  sections  of  the  country.  In  1809  these 
three  committees  were  constituted  three  Presbyteries, 
and  the  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
in  America  was  organized.  In  1823  the  Presbyteries 
had  grown  to  sufficient  size  for  each  to  manage  the  bus- 
iness in  its  own  section,  and  it  was  decided  to  change 
the  Synod  from  a  general  body  to  a  delegated  body  ; 
and  instead  of  meeting  every  year  it  should  meet  bien- 
nially. 


KK  FORM  ED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  417 

The  growth  of  this  Church  had  been  steady  if  not 
rapid;  and  they  were  now  an  intelligent  and  well-in- 
structed people,  with  strong-  convictions  of  duty  and 
affectionate  adherence  to  their  blood-baptized  princi- 
ples. In  1830  the  denomination  was  agitated  over  the 
question  about  their  members  definitely  "  incorporat- 
ing" themselves  with  the  American  government  by 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance.  This  controversy  cul- 
minated in  a  division,  in  1833,  into  what  was  popularly 
known  as  the  Old  Side  and  the  New  Side.  The  Old 
Side  section  insisted  that,  if  the  Church  believed  that 
it  should  testify  against  the  nation's  refusal  to  recog- 
nize the  government  of  God  in  national  affairs,  the 
private  members  of  the  Church  ought  to  enforce  that 
testimony  by  their  conduct.  The  New  Side,  on  the 
other  hand,  believed  that,  while  the  defects  of  the  Con- 
stitution were  very  great  and  extremely  to  be  regretted, 
yet  that  a  sufficient  testimony  could  be  borne  by  the 
action  of  the  Church,  without  requiring  the  members  to 
refuse  to  vote  until  the  defects  were  cured.  This  dis- 
cussion was  very  thorough  and  naturally  led  to  much 
feeling,  and  brought  into  existence  another  denomina- 
tion. Very  many  of  the  ministers  of  the  New  Side, 
and  a  number  of  their  congregations,  have  joined  vari- 
ous other  Presbyterian  bodies  since  that  time. 

The  legal  name  of  the  New  Side  is  the  "  The  Gen- 
eral Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in 
North  America."  The  statistics  of  this  Synod  for  the 
year  1892  give  the  following  :  40  ministers  and  licen- 
tiates, 6200  communicants  and  about  2800  Sabbath- 
school  scholars.  There  is,  under  the  care  of  this 
Synod,  one  theological  seminary  located  at  Philadel- 
phia, one  Foreign  Mission  station    in   Northern   India, 


41 8  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  various  other  missionary  stations  in  this  country 
and  in  Canada. 

The  Old  Side  Covenanter  Church  has  for  its  legal 
name  "The  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  North  America."  The  minutes 
of  this  Synod  for  the  year  1891  give  the  following  sta- 
tistics :  presbyteries  n,  ministers,  123;  congregations, 
127;  church  members,  11,272,  and  Sabbath-school 
scholars,  13,011.  The  Synod  has  under  its  care  a 
theological  seminary  located  at  Allegheny  City,  and 
Geneva  College  at  Beaver  Falls,  Pa.  It  has  Mis- 
sion work  at  Latakiyeh,  Syria;  Tarsus,  Asia  Minor; 
and  Cyprus.  The  Missions  at  Latakiyeh  and  Tarsus 
have  several  out-stations.  The  Church  has  also  a 
Southern  Mission,  an  Indian  Mission  and  a  Chinese 
Mission  in  this  country.  The  benevolent  contribu- 
tions give  a  very  high  average  per  member.  The  gifts 
for  Foreign  Missions,  Home  Missions,  Southern  Mis- 
sions, Chinese  and  Indian  Missions  amount  to  $43,230, 
which  is  an  average  of  $3.84.  For  all  purposes  the 
Church  gives  $216,407,  or  an  average  of  $19.19  per 
member.      Few  denominations,  if  any,  equal  that. 

This  Church  has,  from  the  outset  of  its  history  in  this 
country,  been  a  steadfast  opponent  of  the  system  of 
slavery,  and  has  always  excluded  slaveholders  from  the 
communion  table.  It  has  always  been  a  vigorous  ad- 
vocate of  every  temperance  movement  and  reform. 
Though  their  members  have  strenuously  objected  to 
the  Constitution  and  government  of  the  United  States 
for  its  lack  of  Christian  features,  they  have  never 
hesitated  to  support  it  in  the  payment  of  their  taxes, 
and  the  enlistment  of  their  members  in  its  armies  in 
time  of  war.     The  Church  believes   that  secret,  oath- 


REFORMED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  419 

bound  societies  are  unscriptural,  and  forbids  all  con- 
nection with  them  as  inconsistent  with  the  higher 
allegiance  due  to  the  Church.  The  Scotch  version  of 
Psalms  is  used  in  their  service  of  praise,  without  the  use 
of  organs  or  instruments  of  any  kind.  But  a  new  ver- 
sion of  their  own  is  allowed  and  growing  in  use.  The 
Westminster  Standards  are  maintained  in  their  in- 
tegrity, and  the  denomination  co-operates  cordially  with 
all  other  Presbyterian  denominations  in  the  support  of 
Bible  societies,  philanthropic  movements,  efforts  for 
education  and  the  maintenance  of  general  public  mo- 
rality. 

The  Synod  at  Sharon,  la.,  in  1878,  decided  that  "it 
was  proper  for  women  to  speak  and  lead  in  prayer  in 
social  praying  societies."  The  office  of  Deacon  has 
been  held  to  be  open  to  female  as  well  as  male  mem- 
bers, and  several  women  have  been  ordained  to  the 
office  by  their  respective  Presbyteries.  The  women  of 
this  Church  are  extremely  active  and  efficient  in  all 
missionary  work  and  benevolent  effort. 

The  denomination  has  steadily  grown  since  the  divi- 
sion of  1833  ;  partly  by  the  arrival  of  immigrants  from 
the  old  country,  and  largely  from  its  efficient  work  in 
missions,  education  and  religious  activity.  After  many 
years  of  preparation,  at  a  meeting  of  their  Synod  in 
Pittsburgh,  the  denomination  renewed  the  covenant. 
A  suitable  Committee  of  Arrangements  had  been  ap- 
pointed and  a  suitable  Bond  of  the  Covenant  had  been 
prepared;  and,  with  the  most  solemn  religious  worship, 
the  Synod,  as  representing  the  Church,  reconsecrated 
the  denomination  to  the  Testimony  of  God.  This  had 
been  frequently  done  by  their  ancestors  in  Scotland. 
After  the  adjournment  of  Synod,  the  same   Covenant 


420  PRESBYTERIANS. 

was  taken  by  a  very  large  number  of  congregations. 
This  Covenanting  was  one  of  the  most  notable  events 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  more  recent  times,  and 
took  place  on  May  27,  1871.  Revs.  Andrew  Steven- 
son, James  M.  Beattie,  J.  R.  W.  Sloane,  Thomas 
Sproull  and  William  Milroy  conducted  the  exercises. 

This  Church  is  the  special  leader  in  the  National  Re- 
form Movement.  This  is  in  the  line  of  its  testimony 
from  the  earliest  days  of  Scotch  Presbyterianism  down 
to  the  present  time.  The  thing  which  is  peculiar  to 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  (Old  Side)  and 
which  distinguishes  it  from  all  others,  is  the  refusal  of 
its  people  to  vote,  hold  office,  or  do  any  other  act  defi- 
nitely incorporating  themselves  with  the  government 
until  the  nation  shall  specifically  recognize  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  source  of  its  civil  authority,  and  God's  law  as  the 
rule  of  national  conduct  in  legislation  and  in  the  admin- 
istration of  its  affairs,  both  international  and  domestic. 
While  the  Covenanter  Church  is  alone  in  maintaining 
the  consistency  of  its  political  dissent  by  refusing  to 
vote,  large  numbers  of  Christian  American  citizens  in 
other  communions  look  upon  it  as  a  radical,  if  not  fatal 
defect  of  the  Constitution  that  it  contains  no  recogni- 
tion of  God  as  supreme,  or  of  the  nation  as  a  moral 
person  bound  by  the  moral  law.  The  Constitution  ac- 
knowledges no  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  Bible, 
the  Sabbath,  Christian  morality,  or  Christian  conduct 
in  officials,  and  gives  no  legal  basis  for  any  Christian 
feature  of  the  government. 

At  Xenia,  O.,  in  February,  1863,  a  number  of  citi- 
zens, of  different  denominations,  met  to  consider  the 
need  of  the  nation  of  some  amendment  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  which  would  preserve  and  legalize 
the  Christian  features  of  our  government.      The  meet- 


REFORMED    TRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  421 

ing  called  a  convention  in  July,  1863,  to  nieet  at  Pitts- 
burgh for  the  same  purpose  ;  and  such  was  the  origin 
of  the  National  Reform  Association.  It  is  a  patriotic 
rather  than  a  religious  movement.  The  Church  does 
not  need  the  state,  but  the  state  needs  God's  favor 
and  blessing.  All  the  Church  asks  of  the  civil  law  is 
protection  to  do  its  work  in  peace  ;  but  the  Nation 
needs  a  regenerated  public  conscience  and  sound  moral 
integrity  to  secure  God's  care  and  escape  his  wrath. 
Others  may  be  indifferent  to  God's  punishment,  but 
this  nation  has  had  enough  of  misery  inflicted  on  it  for 
its  sins  to  lead  those  engaged  in  the  National  Reform 
Movement  to  seek  to  avert  from  themselves,  their  chil- 
dren and  their  neighbors  any  further  Divine  vengeance. 
Reformed  Presbyterians  feel  specially  called  upon  to 
aid  the  success  of  this  association  at  any  cost  or  per- 
sonal sacrifice.  They  believe  that  when  the  proposed 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  shall  have  been  incor- 
porated into  that  document,  and  not  until  then,  shall 
this  be  a  truly  Christian  government.  To  this  Na- 
tional Reform  Movement  the  Church  contributed,  in 
1 89 1,  $4520.  That  Movement  seeks  to  add  to  the 
Preamble  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as 
the  source  of  its  civil  authority  some  acknowledg- 
ment of-God  and  the  Nation's  accountability  to  him. 
At  present  the  Preamble  of  the  Constitution  simply 
says  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,"  as  if  the 
people  were-  independent  of  the  Almighty.  The  Na- 
tional Reform  Association  seeks  to  have  that  Pream- 
ble amended  by  inserting  after  the  words  just  quoted, 
"  recognizing  the  dominion  of  Jesus  Christ  over  the 
nations,  and  this  nation's  subjection  to  the  Divine  law." 
Mr.  F.  R.  Brunot,  an  Episcopalian,  of  Allegheny,  Pa., 
is  President  of  the  Association  ;   Rev.  T.  P.  Stevenson, 


422 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


D.  D.,  of  Philadelphia,  a  Covenanter,  is  its  Secretary, 
and  The  Christian  Statesman  its  newspaper  organ.  Mr. 
John  Alexander,  of  Philadelphia,  is  the  largest  individual 
contributor.  Almost  all  denominations  are  represented 
in    its    Board   of  Officers  and   workine   committees. 


Br  p*' 


GENEVA  COLLEGE,  BEAVER  FALLS,  PA. 


A  peculiar  question  with  reference  to  voting  was 
raised  when,  in  various  States,  amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution were  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people  pro- 
hibiting the  traffic  in  liquor.  Voting  has  always  been 
looked  upon  by  the  denomination  as  the  most  definite 
act  of  incorporation  with   the  government  ;  and  yet  the 


REFORMED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  423 

desire  of  the  people  was  unanimous  for  the  passage  of 
these  prohibitory  amendments.  The  Synod  of  the 
Church,  in  1884,  passed  a  resolution  that  "the  simple 
act  of  voting-  for  such  an  amendment  to  the  State 
Constitution  as  will  secure  some  important  principles 
of  moral  right  and  reform,  such  as  the  prohibitory 
amendments  recently  submitted  to  the  people  of 
Kansas,  Iowa  and  Ohio,  belongs  to  the  class  of  acts 
consistent  with  the  principles  and  position  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Church."  The  wisdom  and 
prudence  of  this  act  were  doubted  by  many  of  the 
people.  These  last  believed  that  even  when  the  immedi- 
ate object  sought  was  good,  yet  that  voting  was  essen- 
tially the  incorporation  of  the  voter  in  the  government. 
At  present  the  Church  is  somewhat  disturbed  by  a 
peculiar  case  of  discipline.  A  circular  letter  in  favor  of 
further  discussion  of  the  subject  of  voting,  and  of  the 
position  of  the  Church  on  various  points,  was  issued  by 
a  number  of  persons.  It  is  known  as  the  "  East  End 
Platform,"  from  the  fact  that  the  company  which  signed 
and  issued  it  met  at  Pittsburgh  "  East  End."  It  is  as 
follows  : 

"We,  the  undersigned,  agree  together  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
following  principles  : 

"  1.  That  while  we  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  main- 
tain the  most  advanced  testimony  in  behalf  of  truth  and  against 
error,  yet  the  terms  of  communion  ought  to  be  limited  to  the  plain 
requirements  of  the  Scriptures  ;  namely,  faith  in  Christ  and  obed- 
ience to  his  revealed  will. 

"  2.  That  persons  who  make  a  credible  profession  of  Christ 
should  be  received  into  church  membership  on  their  acceptance  of 
our  Testimony  and  Terms  of  Communion  without  binding  them  to 
an  explanation  in  the  matter  of  political  dissent  or  in  other  questions. 

"3.  That  restricted  communion,  and  not  close  communion,  nor 
open  communion,  is  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  and  of  our  Standards. 


424  PRESBYTERIANS. 

"4.  That  interchange  of  pulpits  should  be  allowed  among  those 
who  preach  the  evangelical  doctrines  of  the  gospel. 

"5.  That  there  should  be  an  organic  union  of  the  whole  Christian 
Church  upon  the  basis  of  the  plain  teaching  of  the  Scriptures. 

"6.  That  free  discussion  should  be  allowed  of  our  subordinate 
standards,  and  of  every  deliverance  of  Synod,  testing  them  by  the 
Bible,  which  is  'the  only  rule  of  faith  and  manners.'  " 

The  signers  personally  asserted  that,  in  practice  they 
had  conformed  to  the  rules  of  the  Church  ;  but  declared 
that  they  did  not  believe  that  these  rules  were  neces- 
sary for  the  promotion  of  the  objects  of  the  Church,  and 
proclaimed  their  purpose  to  agitate  for  a  change.  Dis- 
ciplinary proceedings  were  instituted  against  such  of 
them  as  were  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Pittsburgh, 
but  confining  the  point  at  issue  exclusively  to  Resolu- 
tion 2,  or  the  matter  of  "political  dissent";  or  voting. 

The  case  in  this  shape  came  before  the  Synod  at  its 
meeting  in  Pittsburgh  in  1891.  The  action  of  the 
inferior  tribunal  in  suspending  the  accused  from  the 
ministry  was  sustained  by  Synod  by  a  vote  of  yeas  130, 
nays  25.  Most  of  the  signers  of  the  "  East  End  Plat- 
form" have  since  united  with  other  denominations. 

The  majority  of  the  Synod  held  that  while  ministers 
and  members  remain  in  the  denomination,  and  partici- 
pate in  the  deliberations  of  its  church  courts,  it  is 
improper  for  them  in  speech  or  in  print  to  advocate 
principles  or  practices  inconsistent  with  the  well-known 
position  of  the  denomination.  There  seems  to  be 
general  satisfaction  with  this  action  of  Synod  on  the 
part  of  the  Church.  Ministers  and  people  insist  that 
those  who  become  dissatisfied  with  the  position  of  the 
Church,  instead  of  trying  to  revolutionize  the  denomi- 
nation in  a  disorderly  way,  should  quietly  withdraw  and 
join  some  other  body  of  Christians. 


JOHN    T.  PRESSLY,   D.  D. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE  UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 
By  Rev.  W.  J.  REID,  D.  D.,  and   Rev.  A.  G.  WALLACE,  D.  D. 

THE  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America 
is  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  Presbyterian  sister- 
hood, but  its  antecedents  and  its  own  record  make  it 
worthy  of  a  place  with  the  older  members  of  the  family. 
It  was  formed  by  a  union  of  the  Associate  and  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Churches  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  on  the  26th 
day  of  May,  1858,  in  the  presence  of  a  multitude  that 
filled  Old  City  Hall  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  blocked 
the  stairway  and  pavements.  It  was  a  day  of  great  en- 
thusiasm, because  of  the  consummation  of  a  long  cher- 
ished hope,  and  the  anticipation  of  a  happy  future  in 
more  effective  work  for  the  Lord,  and  in  richer  blessings 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  negotiations  for  this  union 
had  been  carried  on  through  many  years.  Sometimes 
it  seemed  as  if  the  obstacles  could  not  be  overcome,  but 
one  after  another  they  were  removed,  and  at  length,  in 
the  time  of  a  great  spiritual  awakening,  the  two  closely 
related,  but  long  separated,  Churches  were  brought  to- 
gether in  one  body.  All  that  was  anticipated  has  been 
enjoyed.  Born  of  the  Spirit  of  Life  in  a  revival,  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  active  and  ag- 
gressive, retaining  the  sturdy  character  and  conservative 
spirit   and   the   positivencss  of  doctrine  of  its  ancestry, 

425 


426  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  yet  liberal  in  Christian  sympathy  and  evangelistic 
in  its  work. 

ANTECEDENT  CHURCHES. 

By  one  line  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  is  de- 
scended from  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland,  those 
valiant  defenders  of  the  "  Crown  and  Covenant  "  of 
Christ,  whose  history  for  many  years  was  written  in 
blood  and  whose  monuments  are  the  covenants  and 
martyrs'  graves.  Almost  destroyed  at  the  disastrous 
battle  at  Bothwell  Bridge,  they  maintained  their  exist- 
ence and  fellowship,  under  a  most  relentless  persecution, 
by  societies  for  Scripture  study  and  prayer.  When  Pres- 
byterianism  was  again  established  by  the  Revolution 
Settlement,  the  great  body  of  the  Covenanter  connec- 
tion refused  to  accept  the  modifications  of  the  former 
establishment,  believing  that  to  do  so  would  be  a  viola- 
tion of  their  covenant  engagements.  In  this  strong 
conviction  of  duty  they  continued  to  be  independent  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and,  at  length,  in  1743,  were 
organized  as  the  Reformed  Presbytery.  Many  of  this 
faith  removed  to  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  thence  to 
America.  Rev.  John  Cutbertson  came  to  them  as  their 
minister,  and  on  the  23d  day  of  August,  1  752,  they  held 
their  first  communion,  at  Stony  Ridge,  now  New  Kings- 
ton, in  Cumberland  county,  Pa.  A  Presbytery  was  or- 
ganized on  the  10th  of  March,  1774,  at  Paxtang,  near 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 

By  the  other  line,  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  is 
descended  from  that  body  of  Evangelical  men  who 
preached  against  the  erroneous  doctrines  tolerated  by 
the  General  Assembly,  the  common  indifference  to  re- 
ligious convictions,  the  ignorance  and  immorality  that 


THE   UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  427 

prevailed  in  the  ministry,  and  the  patronage  act  of  Par- 
liament, under  which  most  unworthy  men  became  pas- 
tors. For  this  fearless  denunciation  of  wrong  they  were 
subjected  to  discipline.  Failing  to  find  redress  they 
seceded,  and  in  1753  formed  the  Associate  Presbytery. 
They  were  comparatively  few  in  number,  but  by  this 
act  of  separation,  the  purity  of  their  lives,  the  positive- 
ness  of  their  doctrines  concerning  the  grace  of  God 
and  the  independence  of  the  Church  of  all  civil  control, 
they  produced  a  profound  impression.  They  were  the 
forerunners  of  the  secession  a  century  later,  for  the 
same  principles,  which  gave  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land to  the  world.  The  movement  grew  rapidly,  and 
was  extended  to  America,  where  the  Presbytery  of 
Pennsylvania  was  organized  on  the  2d  of  November, 
1758,  and,  a  few  years  later,  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York. 

These  two  churches — the  Associate  and  the  Reformed 
— had  so  much  in  common,  that  in  the  new  circumstances 
in  which  they  were  placed  they  drew  nearer  to  each 
other.  They  were  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  felt  the  necessity  for  a  church  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  foreign  control,  and  free  to  adapt  itself  to 
the  American  conditions.  Conferences  were  held,  a 
basis  of  union  was  agreed  upon,  and  on  the  15th  day 
of  June,  1782,  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  was 
organized.  The  first  meeting  of  the  Synod  was  held 
at  the  house  of  William  Richards,  in  Philadelphia,  on 
the  31st  of  October  of  the  same  year.  Its  first  act  was 
to  adopt  certain  articles  setting  forth  the  principles  on 
which  the  Church  was  established,  and  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  revision  of  the  parts  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith  relating  to  the  civil  power  and  the  Church.    This 


428 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


was  an  honest  effort  to  heal  the  divisions  of  the  Church 
by  the  union  of  those  most  in  accord,  but  it  did  not  ac- 
complish all  that  was  hoped,  for  some  dissented,  and  the 
Associate  Church  continued  its  organization. 

Both  Churches  were  blessed  and  prospered.     Congre- 
gations were  formed  more  rapidly  than  they  could  be 


WESTMINSTER   COLLEGE,    NEW   WILMINGTON,    PA. 

supplied,  extending  into  the  South  and  keeping  abreast 
with  the  advancing  settlement  in  the  West.  In  1804 
the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church 
was  organized,  but  trouble  arose.  The  great  distances 
and  the  fatigue  of  travel  made  it  impossible  for  the  re- 
mote Presbyteries  to  be  fully  represented.  Divergencies 
began  to  appear,  and  ultimately  serious  departures  from 
the  principles  and  usages  of  the  Church  caused  dissen- 
sion. In  1820  the  Synod  of  Scioto  withdrew  and  be- 
came independent,  as  the  Synod  of  the  West  ;  two 
years  later  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  constituted  itself 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  429 

as  the  Synod  of  the  South,  and  still  remains  a  separate 
Church;  a  considerable  number  of  the  congregations  in 
the  East  entered  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Such  a  dis- 
ruption was  a  great  disaster,  but  the  rally  from  it  was 
prompt  and  effectual.  In  1855  the  Synod  of  New  York 
united  with  the  General  Synod  of  the  West,  under  the 
name  of  "The  Associate  Reformed  Church  of  America," 
with  very  happy  results.  The  Associate  Church,  whose 
supreme  court  was  an  aggregate  Synod,  also  had  some 
dissensions,  but  they  did  not  materially  interfere  with 
its  growth,  and  were  ultimately  healed. 

THE  UNION. 

Time  and  the  orderings  of  God's  providence  are 
effective  agencies  in  the  hands  of  the  Spirit.  Occupy- 
ing the  same  fields,  composed  of  the  same  class  of 
people,  having  substantially  the  same  standards  and  the 
same  form  of  worship,  the  Associate  and  the  Associate 
Reformed  Churches  were  gradually  drawn  together. 
Negotiations  conducted  through  many  years  resulted, 
at  length,  in  a  union,  and  the  organization  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America.  The  basis  of 
union,  which  became  the  organic  law  of  the  Church, 
was  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Catechisms,  Larger 
and  Shorter,  the  Form  of  Government  and  the  Direc- 
tory for  Worship,  together  with  a  "Testimony."  The 
"  Testimony  "  consists  of  eighteen  articles,  designed  to 
set  forth  the  views  of  the  Church  "  on  certain  points 
which  were  either  not  distinctly  introduced  into  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  by  its  framers,  or  not  exhibited  with  that 
fullness  and  explicitness  which  the  circumstances  of 
the  Church,  the  times  in  which  we  live,  and  the  \  iews  and 
practices  of  those  around  us,  demand  of  us  as  witnesses 


430  PRESBYTERIANS. 

for  the  truth.  These  Articles,  which  may  be  said  to 
distinguish  the  profession  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  from  others,  treat  of  the  following  subjects  : 
The  Plenary  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  ;  The  Eternal 
Sonship  of  Christ  ;  The  Covenant  of  Works  ;  The  Fall 
of  Man  and  His  Present  Inability;  The  Nature  and 
Extent  of  the  Atonement;  Imputed  Righteousness; 
The  Gospel  offer  ;  Saving  Faith  ;  Evangelical  Repent- 
ance ;  The  Believer's  Deliverance  from  the  Law  as  a 
Covenant ;  The  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  The  Head- 
ship of  Christ ;  The  Supremacy  of  God's  Law  ;  Slave- 
holding  ;  Secret  Societies ;  Communion  ;  Covenanting 
and  Psalmody.  This  was  the  basis  of  union  ;  the  bond 
of  union  was  the  Testimony  of  the  Spirit.  It  was  a 
day  of  God's  power.  Hearts  flowed  together  as  they 
stood  before  the  Lord.  "  The  voice  of  joy  and  gladness 
was  heard."  A  new  enthusiasm  in  the  service  of  the 
Lord  was  kindled  ;  a  greater  power  was  given  to  the 
ministers,  and  grace  was  upon  the  people.  "  Forbear- 
ance in  Love  "  was  inscribed  on  the  banner  of  the  United 
Church  as  its  motto,  and,  in  all  the  agitations  and  dis- 
cussions incident  to  an  advancing  work,  has  continued 
to  express  its  spirit. 

ORGANIZATION. 

To  some  this  union  seemed  unduly  conservative,  but 
to  the  great  body  it  was  a  forward  movement,  the  heal- 
ing of  a  division,  the  concentration  of  forces,  the  simpli- 
fication of  agencies,  and  the  opportunity  for  more 
aggressive  Christian  work.  The  first  General  Assem- 
bly completed  the  organization  by  the  appointment  of 
Boards  for  missions  at  home  and  abroad,  for  church 
building,    education  and   publication,  and  subsequently 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  531 

Boards  were  appointed  for  missions  to  the  Freedmen  and 
for  ministerial  relief.  The  organization  of  the  church 
for  work  has  been  found  very  satisfactory,  and  has  con- 
tinued with  very  little  change,  except  that  incident  to 
growth.  Special  care  has  been  taken  to  protect  the 
rights  of  the  Presbyteries,  and  to  avoid  the  centraliza- 
tion of  power  in  the  Assembly  or  the  Boards,  by  laying 
upon  the  Presbyteries  the  responsibility  for  the  raising 
ot  the  funds  and  the  prosecution  of  the  work  within 
their  own  bounds.  No  agents  are  allowed  to  canvas 
the  Church  in  behalf  of  any  Board,  but  each  congrega- 
tion is  expected  to  contribute  a  reasonable  proportion 
of  the  whole  amount  appropriated  by  the  General  As- 
sembly. A  Committee  of  ways  and  means,  appointed 
by  the  Assembly,  keepe  the  subject  of  Christian  giving 
before  the  ministry  and  people,  and  by  suitable  literature 
seeks  to  develop  the  spirit  of  beneficence.  In  every 
Presbytery  there  is  a  financial  agent,  appointed  by  the 
Assembly,  who  has  an  oversight  of  the  contributions  of 
the  congregations,  and  through  whom  they  are  for- 
warded to  the  treasurers  of  the  several  funds.  The  re- 
sult has  been  great  efficiency.  The  greater  part  of  the 
ministry  and  very  many  of  the  people  make  conscience 
of  giving  one-tenth  of  their  income. 

SPIRIT    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

The  spirit  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  is  con- 
servative as  to  doctrine,  fraternal  as  to  other  churches, 
and  evangelistic  as  to  work.  The  Calvinistic  system  of 
doctrine  is  firmly  held  and  emphatically  preached.  The 
plenary  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  the  sovereignty  of 
God  in  creation,  providence  and  grace,  His  eternal  pur- 
pose, concerning  redemption,  the   atonement  of   Christ 


432  PRESBYTERIANS. 

for  his  people,  the  salvation  of  those  for  whom  Christ 
died,  not  by  personal  merit,  but  by  the  grace  of  God 
working  righteousness,  and  the  free  offer  of  that 
grace  to  all,  are  prominent  themes  in  the  pulpit  and 
cardinal  doctrines  in  the  pew.  The  standards  are  for 
the  members  as  well  as  for  the  ministers,  and  assent  to 
them  is  required  of  those  seeking  the  privileges  of  the 
church.  Much  care  is  taken  in  regard  to  family  wor- 
ship and  instruction.  Changes  in  custom  and  usage  are 
made  slowly,  and  there  has  not  been  any  radical  depart- 
ure from  the  faith  of  the  fathers.  But,  withal,  there  is 
a  desire  and  constant  effort  to  adapt  the  methods  of 
work  to  the  circumstances  in  which  we  are  placed  and  the 
spirit  of  the  time  in  which  we  live. 

Communion. — The  United  Presbyterian  Church  holds 
to  a  restricted  communion.  There  is  a  full  recogni- 
tion of  the  Christian  character  of  other  Evangelical 
Churches  and  the  most  cordial  co-operation  with  them 
in  all  benevolent  and  general  Christian  work  ;  the 
General  Assembly  welcomes  their  delegates,  and  cordi- 
ally returns  the  courtesy.  But  for  edification  and  good 
order,  fellowship  in  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, is,  ordinarily,  extended  only  to  those  who  are 
members  ;  privilege  is  bounded  by  jurisdiction.  A  cer- 
tain discretionary  power  is  given  to  Sessions  as  to  the 
admission  of  members  of  other  churches  to  communion 
in  special  circumstances,  the  privilege,  however,  being 
extended  by  the  Session  on  the  knowledge,  or  evidence, 
of  suitable  Christian  character.  In  the  earlier  days 
a  very  strict  interpretation  was  given  to  the  26th 
Chapter  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  practically  restrict- 
ing communion  to  those  in  membership,  but  a  broader 
view  subsequently  obtained.    In  the  union  which  formed 


434  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  the  following  Article 
was  adopted  :  "  The  Church  should  not  extend  com- 
munion in  sealing  ordinances  to  those  who  refuse  adher- 
ence  to  her  profession,  or  subjection  to  her  government 
and  discipline,  or  who  refuse  to  forsake  a  communion 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  profession  that  she 
makes ;  nor  should  communion  in  any  ordinance  of 
worship  be  held  under  such  circumstances  as  would  be 
Inconsistent  with  the  keeping  of  these  ordinances  pure 
and  entire,  or  so  as  to  give  countenance  to  any  corrup- 
tion of  the  doctrine  and  institutions  of  Christ."  But 
questions  of  interpretation  arose  and  much  discussion 
followed.  The  subject  came  before  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  1867,  by  appeal  in  a  case  in  which  the  author  of 
a  certain  book  was  charged  with  "  serious  and  funda- 
mental error  on  Church  fellowship."  He  was  judged 
guilty  "  because  of  his  enunciation  and  advocacy  of 
principles  which,  if  fully  carried  out,  would  work  a  com- 
plete subversion  of  the  Church  as  a  visible  organiza- 
tion." But  the  question  of  the  power  of  Sessions  re- 
mained, and  a  memorial  was  submitted  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  asking  for  a  modification  of  the 
Article  "so  as  to  concede  to  Sessions  the  authority  of 
applying  the  principles  of  it,  as  their  own  discretion 
may  direct."  The  General  Assembly  declined  to  make 
any  modification,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  neces- 
sary. "  It  is  well  known  to  those  who  are  familiar  with 
the  history  of  the  Church,  that  the  faith  and  practice 
of  both  Churches  previously  to  the  union  were  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principle  of  restricted,  in  opposition 
to  latitudinarian  communion.  .  .  .  This  authority 
Sessions  already  possess.  .  .  Sessions,  of  course, 
are  responsible  for  the  manner  in  which  they  exercise 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  435 

this  discretion  ;  but  the  right  to  exercise  it  is  unques- 
tionable." The  deliverance  was  satisfactory  to  all,  and 
a  discussion  which  had  threatened  dissension  ended  at 
once.  Temporary  privilege,  like  permanent  commun- 
ion, is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  court.  This 
gives  all  the  latitude  practically  required  for  edification, 
and  preserves  the  purity  of  the  communion  by  retaining 
the  power  of  discipline. 

Slavery. — The  United  Presbyterian  Church  has  al- 
ways been  strongly  anti-slavery.  In  1830,  the  Synod  of 
the  West,  which  had  congregations  in  Kentucky,  pro- 
nounced judgment  upon  the  buying  and  selling  of  slaves 
for  gain,  as  against  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  re- 
quired its  members  who  were  the  owners  of  slaves  to 
make  conscience  of  liberating  them  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible time,  and  meanwhile  to  treat  them  according  to 
the  teachings  of  the  Apostles.  It  was  soon  relieved  of 
complicity  in  the  evil.  The  Associate  Synod  also  had 
congregations  in  the  South,  and  as  early  as  181 1  took 
condemnatory  action.  Milder  measures  failing,  in  1831 
all  slaveholders  were  excluded  from  communion.  When 
the  Union  was  formed  there  was  no  dissent  from  the 
Article  which  said:  "  Slaveholders — that  is  the  holding  of 
unoffending  human  beings  in  involuntary  bondage,  and 
considering  and  treating  them  as  property,  and  subject 
to  be  bought  and  sold — is  a  violation  of  the  law  of  God, 
and  contrary  both  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  Christian- 
ity." The  feeling  on  the  subject  was  intense,  and  when 
the  Civil  War  came  an  undivided  support  was  given  to 
the  cause  which  involved,  not  only  the  integrity  of  the 
nation,  but  also  the  freedom  of  the  slaves.  There  was 
an  unbroken  line  of  deliverances  from  all  the  courts 
of  the  Church  expressing  loyalty  to  the  government, 


436  PRESBYTERIANS. 

and  a  very  large  proportion  of  her  sons  entered  the 
service. 

Psalmody. — The  United  Presbyterian  Church  has 
been,  and  is,  distinguished  by  its  position  and  practice 
on  the  subject  of  Church  Psalmody.  The  Reformation 
in  Scotland  was  rigidly  biblical,  and  the  divine  sanction 
was  demanded  for  everything  that  was  introduced  into 
the  worship  of  God.  The  men  who  seceded  from  the 
Established  Church  insisted  on  this  principle,  and 
therefore,  when  changes  in  the  psalmody  began  to  be 
made,  they  adhered  to  the  use  of  the  Psalms  of  the 
Bible,  as  given  by  the  Spirit  to  be  sung  in  the  Church 
to  the  end  of  time,  On  this  point  there  has  been  no 
change,  or  wavering.  During  all  their  history  both  the 
Associate  and  the  Associate  Reformed  Churches  held 
firmly  to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Psalms,  believing  them 
to  be  divinely  appointed,  suitable  and  sufficient  for  the 
spiritual  need  of  the  people  of  God,  and  that  a  depart- 
ure from  the  principle  of  a  divine  warrant  would  open 
the  door  to  the  corruption  of  the  worship  in  other 
things.  At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  this  conviction  was  embodied  in 
its  organic  doctrines  :  "It  is  the  will  of  God  that  the 
songs  contained  in  the  Book  of  Psalms  be  sung  in  His 
worship,  both  public  and  private,  to  the  end  of  the 
world  ;  and  in  singing  God's  praise,  these  songs  should 
be  employed  to  the  exclusion  of  the  devotional  compo- 
sitions of  uninspired  men." 

The  only  questions  which  have  arisen  related  to  ver- 
sions and  the  use  of  instrumental  music.  The  version 
long  in  use  was  defective  in  rhythm  and  did  not  allow 
a  sufficient  range  of  music,  and  therefore,  after  many 
years  of  labor,  a   new  one  was  authorized  and  quickly 


' 


a^nStKr-. 


JOSEPH    T.   COOPER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  437 

came  into  general  use.  It  has  contributed  very  much 
to  the  improvement  of  the  worship  and  the  effective- 
ness of  the  praise  service.  Set  to  music  suitable  for 
general  use,  it  is  published  under  the  name  of  "  The 
Psalter."  Another  book,  in  which  some  of  the-  duplicate 
versions  are  omitted,  and  in  which  the  music  is  more 
specially  adapted  to  Sabbath  schools,  has  been  published 
under  the  title  :"  Bible  Songs."  These,  all  by  the 
authority  of  the  General  Assembly,  give  entire  uni- 
formity to  the  worship  of  all  the  congregations,  and 
amply  meet  their  spiritual  need. 

The  most  notable  change  in  connection  with  the 
worship  of  the  Church  has  been  the  repeal  of  the  rule 
prohibiting  the  use  of  instrumental  music.  The  Direc- 
tory for  Worship  contained  the  following  regulation  : 
"As  the  use  of  musical  instruments  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment Church  has  no  sanction  in  the  Bible,  they  shall 
not  be  introduced,  in  any  form,  in  any  of  our  congrega- 
tions." This  rule  never  commanded  the  undivided 
support  of  the  Church,  for  even  at  the  time  of  its  adop- 
tion it  was  opposed  by  many  who  had  doubts  as  to  its 
scripturalness.  Efforts  were  made  to  have  it  repealed, 
but,  until  1 88 1,  the  Assembly  refused  to  permit  an  over- 
ture. When  submitted  the  vote  was  remarkably  close, 
being  620  1-2  in  the  affirmative,  612  1-2  in  the  negative, 
and  nine  not  voting.  The  law  on  overtures  requires  "at 
least  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  whole  Church  "  be- 
fore any  change  can  be  made  in  "doctrine,  worship  or 
government."  The  decision  in  this  case  turned  on  the 
question  :  What  constitutes  a  majority?  Should  the 
non-voters  be  counted  ?  The  question  had  never  arisen 
on  an  actual  overture,  but  the  previous  Assembly  had 
interpreted   the   law  as   contemplating  only  the  votes 


438  PRESBYTERIANS. 

cast  in  the  affirmative  and  negative.  In  accordance 
with  this,  the  Assembly  declared  the  rule  repealed  "by 
a  clear,  constitutional  majority,"  but  added  :  "  This  de- 
cision is  not  to  be  considered  as  authorizing  instru- 
mental  music  in  the  worship  of  God,  but  simply  as  a 
declaration  of  the  Church  that  there  is  not  sufficient 
Bible  authority  for  an  absolutely  exclusive  rule  on  the 
subject."  In  view  of  the  nearly  equal  division  of  senti- 
ment in  the  Church  and  to  avert  unhappy  dissensions, 
the  Assembly  also  said  :  "  This  Assembly  hereby  in- 
structs and  enjoins  the  lower  courts  to  abstain,  and  have 
all  under  their  authority  abstain,  from  any  action  in  this 
matter  that  would  disturb  the  peace  and  harmony  of 
congregations,  or  unreasonably  disregard  the  conscien- 
tious convictions  of  members."  There  were  earnest 
protests  ;  much  discussion  with  considerable  feeling  fol- 
lowed ;  and  for  several  years  the  subject  was  before  the 
Assembly,  but  the  substantial  harmony  of  the  Church 
was  not  disturbed.  Whatever  diversity  of  sentiment 
there  is,  all  work  together  for  the  common  cause. 

Temperance. — It  may  be  supposed  by  many  that  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  is  so  much  occupied  in 
contending  for  the  old  ways,  that  it  has  no  time  or  dis- 
position to  take  part  in  the  amendment  of  the  evil  ways 
of  the  present  day.  But,  in  fact,  it  is  an  active  worker 
in  the  great  reforms  which  enlist  Christian  sentiment 
and  effort.  The  "  National  Reform  "  has  received  the 
repeated  endorsement  of  the  Assembly,  and  is  strongly 
supported  by  the  ministry  and  many  of  the  people. 
On  the  subject  of  temperance  there  is  practical  unanim- 
ity. The  pulpit  has  spoken  with  all  possible  earnest- 
ness, the  press  has  given  its  unqualified  support  to  the 
strongest  prohibitory  legislation,  and  the  members  are 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  439 

practically  undivided,  except  as  to  a  separate  political 
organization  on  this  issue. .  The  General  Assembly  has 
expressed  this  sentiment  in  deliverances,  renewed  almost 
every  year.  The  first  Assembly  declared  "  that  the 
business  of  manufacturing  and  vending  intoxicating 
drinks  for  drinking  purposes  is  injurious  to  the  best 
interests  of  society,  and  therefore  inconsistent  with  the 
law  of  God  which  requires :"  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself ;  "  and  "  that  the  practice  of  renting 
houses  to  be  occupied  by  those  who  are  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  to  be  used  as 
a  beverage,  or  for  immoral  purposes,  is  utterly  inconsist- 
ent with  the  honor  of  the  Christian  religion."  In  the 
same  line  subsequent  Assemblies  declared  that  the  manu- 
facture or  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  inconsistent  with 
membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  Sessions 
have  full  authority  to  require  total  abstinence  on  the 
part  of  members  when  they  judge  it  necessary ;  that 
every  Church  member  is,  by  his  profession,  pledged  to 
total  abstinence  ;  that,  as  a  civil  remedy,  absolute  pro- 
hibition is  the  only  efficient  one,  and  that  "constitu- 
tional amendment"  is  the  only  sure  method  of  securing 
this  result ;  that  all  measures  of  license  or  tax  are 
wrong  in  principle  and  contrary  to  good  government ; 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  Christian  citizens  to  meet  the  evil 
directly  in  the  careful  and  prayerful  use  of  the  ballot. 
The  sentiment  of  the  Church  has  advanced  with  the 
changing  phases  of  the  evil,  and  positions  which  at  one 
time  would  have  been  regarded  as  untenable,  are  now 
held  without  question. 

Secret  Societies. — There  has  not  been  any  change  of 
the  position  of  the  Church  in  regard  to  secret  oath- 
bound  societies.     They  are  held  to  be  inconsistent  with 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  441 

the  genius  and  spirit  of  Christianity,  substituting  an- 
other master  for  Christ,  tending  to  break  the  brother- 
hood of  those  in  the  Church,  and  forming  a  barrier  to 
entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Whether  formed 
for  political,  benevolent  or  other  purposes,  they  are  re- 
garded as  inimical  to  the  relisjion  of  Christ,  and  de- 
structive  to  the  freedom  of  the  personal  conscience 
when  they  impose  an  obligation  to  obey  a  code  of  un- 
known laws.  There  have  been  earnest  discussions  as  to 
the  best  methods  of  meeting  what  is  felt  to  be  a  great 
evil,  and  some  diversity  exists,  but  the  Article  on  the 
subject  stands  unquestioned.  Upon  Sessions  rests  the 
responsibility  of  the  exercise  of  discretion  as  to  the 
course  to  be  taken  in  dealing  with  the  individual.  So 
far  as  known,  not  any  minister  in  the  Church  is  con- 
nected with  any  such  order,  nor  would  one  be  tolerated 
in  the  ministry  who  would  so  connect  himself. 

Spiritual  Life. — With  the  growing  activity  in  gen- 
eral reform  movements  and  increasing  efforts  to  meet 
the  social  influences  that  indirectly,  but  powerfully,  re- 
sist the  Gospel,  there  has  been  a  very  marked  develop- 
ment of  spiritual  life.  In  the  admission  of  members 
there  is  more  inquiry  as  to  personal  experience  of  grace, 
in  Church  work  there  is  more  personal  activity,  both  in 
the  congregation  and  in  Sabbath  schools  and  missions 
in  destitute  places.  On  the  part  of  the  ministry  there 
is  more  direct  preaching  to  the  unconverted,  and  a  nota- 
ble increase  in  evangelistic  services.  The  spiritual 
growth  lias  been  in  the  greater  prominence  given  to  the 
person  of  Jesus  and  the  imitation  of  his  life  and  work, 
but  not  to  the  neglect  of  the  former  standard  of  doc- 
trine and  membership. 


442  PRESBYTERIANS. 

WORK  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  work  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  may 
be  briefly  set  forth  by  some  statements  concerning  the 
several  departments  into  which  it   is   naturally  divided. 

Home  Missions. — The  Home  Mission  system  contem- 
plates the  employment  of  every  minister  and  licentiate 
who  is  willing  to  take  appointments.  The  Board  is 
largely  an  executive  committee,  with  power  to  meet 
emergencies,  and,  by  correspondence  with  the  Presbyter- 
ies, selects  missionaries  for  new  stations  and  special  mis- 
sions. The  whole  work  is  under  a  general  committee, 
composed  of  a  delegate  from  each  Presbytery,  meeting 
one  week  before  the  General  Assembly.  To  this  com- 
mittee belongs  the  selection  of  special  mission  fields, 
the  supply  of  stations  already  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbyteries,  the  distribution  of  all  the  unemployed 
ministers  and  licentiates  to  the  several  Presbyteries, 
and  the  appropriation  of  funds  to  the  stations  and  con- 
gregations. By  this  arrangement  every  part  of  the 
Church  is  represented,  and  no  one  can  complain  of  in- 
justice, for  the  smallest  Presbytery  has  an  equal  vote 
with  the  largest.  In  every  Presbytery  there  is  a  Super- 
intendent of  Missions,  appointed  by  the  Assembly  and 
its  agent,  for  the  oversight  of  the  missions,  who  reports 
quarterly  to  the  Board.  The  last  report  of  the  Board 
shows  that  the  amount  expended  annually  is  over 
$63,000.  The  number  of  stations  is  200,  of  which  95 
have  settled  pastors,  and  141  have  preaching  full  time. 
The  membership  of  the  aided  stations  is  12,500,  and  the 
increase  by  confession  of  faith  during  1890-91  was  1 1.1 
per  cent.  These  stations  contribute  $56,675  for  salaries 
and  other  mission  work. 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  443 

Church  Building. — Co-ordinate  with  Home  Mission 
work  is  the  erection  of  churches  and  parsonages  by 
the  Board  of  Church  Extension.  The  aid  given  for 
churches  is  by  donations  and  loans,  and  for  parsonages 
by  loans  at  a  low  rate  of  interest.  The  annual  expen- 
diture is  about  $43,000.  The  aim  is  to  have  a  church, 
and  if  possible  a  parsonage,  at  the  very  opening  of  the 
mission,  that  the  work  may  begin  under  the  most  favor- 
able conditions.  By  the  aid  thus  given  two-fifths  of  all 
the  churches  now  in  use  have  been  erected.  Ten  years 
ao-o  a  little  more  than  one-eighth  of  the  organized  con- 
gregations  were  houseless,  but  at  present  only  one  in 
twenty  is  thus  destitute. 

Missions  to  the  Freedmcn. — The  work  among  the 
Freedmen  is  largely  educational,  but  there  is  a  church 
in  connection  with  every  mission.  The  last  report  gives 
six  stations — Knoxville  and  Athens,  in  Tennessee ; 
Miller's  Ferry,  in  Alabama  ;  Norfolk,  Chase  City  and 
Bluestone,  in  Virginia,  and  Henderson,  in  North  Caro- 
lina. There  is  an  enrollment  of  1876  in  the  schools 
and  an  equal  number  in  the  Sabbath  schools.  There 
are  four  ordained  ministers,  one  licentiate,  and  thirty- 
five  teachers  and  helpers.  This  work  was  sustained  at 
a  cost  of  $35,861  for  the  year  1891. 

Foreign  Missions. — The  Foreign  Mission  work  has 
been  concentrated  on  Egypt  and  India.  The  mission 
in  Egypt  extends  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  at  Alex- 
andria, to  the  First  Cataract  on  the  Nile,  at  Assouan. 
It  was  opened  in  1854,  and  has  been  greatly  blessed. 
At  each  station  there  is  a  school,  at  Asyoot  a  college, 
and  at  Cairo  a  theological  seminary,  and  also  a  board- 
ing school  for  girls.  There  are  fourteen  ordained  for- 
eign missionaries  and   the  same  number   of  native  pas- 


444  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tors,  with  five  licentiates  and  seventeen  theological 
students.  The  mission  in  India  is  in  the  Punjab,  the 
Northwest  Province.  It  was  established  in  1854,  and 
has  enjoyed  remarkable  tokens  of  the  Spirit's  power. 
It  has  ten  organized  congregations  and  fifty-six  stations, 
with  a  membership  of  6673  ;  twelve  ordained  foreign 
missionaries,  thirteen  native  ministers  and  two  licenti- 
ates. Also  two  medical  dispensaries,  with  female  phy- 
sicians for  the  treatment  of  women  and  children,  are 
connected  with  the  missions.  The  number  of  cases 
treated  has  risen  to  over  40,000  in  the  past  year.  The 
summary  for  both  missions  is :  Ordained  foreign 
missionaries,  26 ;  unmarried  female  missionaries,  23  ; 
native  ordained  ministers,  27;  organized  congregations, 
39;  unorganized  stations,  143;  communicants,  9828; 
increase  during  the  year  [1891]  by  profession,  725  ; 
schools,  245  ;  pupils,  10,347 ;  Sabbath  schools,  201, 
with  7559  scholars ;  contributions,  $7246.  The  pay- 
ments reported  by  the  Board  in  1891  were  $103,395. 
In  organization,  in  the  character  of  the  missionaries, 
and  in  the  efficiency  of  the  schools  and  mission  work 
these    missions   are  unsurpassed. 

Publication. — The  Board  of  Publication  is  located  at 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  where  a  larcre  building  furnishes  the  fa- 
cilities  for  the  business,  a  ministerial  room,  and  various 
offices.  In  1891  the  sales  in  the  book  and  periodical 
departments  amounted  to  $75,000.  This  Board  has 
charge  of  the  Sabbath  school  publications,  and  general 
superintendence  of  the  Sabbath  school  work.  The  ag- 
gregate circulation  of  the  periodicals  is  3,143,000  copies. 

The  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief,  in  1891,  reported 
aid  given  to  125  persons,  to  the  amount  of  $5753  dur- 
ing the  year. 


THE    UN1TK1)    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 


445 


The  Board  of  Education  is  occupied  chiefly  with  the 
helping  of  young  men  preparing  for  the  ministry.  'I  he 
aid  is  restricted  almost  entirely  to  students  of  theology. 
Of  the  fifty-nine  beneficiaries  reported  in  1891  only- 
three  were  literary  students.  The  amount  given  during 
the  past  year  was  $5700, 
and  also  $600  to  acad- 
emies. 

IV  0  m  e  n '  s  Mis  s  to  n 
Work. — The  growth  of 
the  Foreign  Mission 
work  awakened  a  deep 
interest  on  the  part 
of  the  women  of  the 
Church.  Local  societies 
were  formed  for  its  sup- 
port, but,  as  all  mission 
work  is  essentially  the 
same,  the  help  was  extended  to  the  other  departments. 
A  General  Society  was  formed  in  1875,  and  in  1888 
the  Women's  Missionary  Board  was  organized  as  the 
Executive  Board  of  the  General  Society,  and  as  an 
auxiliary  to  the  other  Boards.  The  Society  has  con- 
ducted its  work  with  signal  ability,  and  has  rendered 
valuable  aid  in  all  departments  of  the  mission  work.  In 
the  foreign  field,  besides  the  support  of  lady  mission- 
aries, it  has  charge  of  the;  medical  department,  and 
sustains  two  hospitals  in  the  Indian  Mission.  In  the 
home  field  it  has  the  entire  care  of  the  Warm  Springs, 
Ore.,  Indian  Mission,  and  employs  several  city  mis- 
sionaries. It  aids  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  in  the 
erection  of  parsonages,  and  the  Freedmen's  Missions  by 
building  "Homes"  at   the   principal   stations,    and    by 


P.  ORPHANS  HOME,  ALLEGHENY,  PA. 


446  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  support  of  teachers.  There  are  now  49  Presby- 
terial  Associations  and  852  congregational  societies, 
in  which  there  is  a  membership  of  19,628.  The  expen- 
ditures for  the  past  year  were  $46,029. 

Benevolent  Work. — The  Women's  Association  for 
benevolent  work  was  formed  in  1878.  It  has  since  that 
time  established  an  Orphans'  Home,  a  Childrens'  Hos- 
pital, an  Aged  People's  Home,  and  sustains  a  Day  Nur- 
sery. These  institutions  are  located  in  Allegheny,  ex- 
cept the  Aged  People's  Home,  which  is  in  the  vicinity. 

Young  People  s  Societies. — The  Young  People's  move- 
ment did  not  take  formal  organization  until  1889,  when 
the  General  Assembly  appointed  a  committee  to  give 
general  direction  to  it,  and  prepare  a  constitution  for 
the  societies.  A  general  secretary  has  been  added  to 
the  committee,  Presbyterial  societies  have  been  formed 
and  an  annual  Institute  is  held.  Active  work  is  carried 
on  in  all  the  lines  of  Bible  study  and  missions.  There 
are  589  societies  and  23,994  members. 

EDUCATIONAL    INSTITUTIONS. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church  has  always  en- 
deavored to  maintain  a  high  standard  for  the  ministry. 
In  the  early  days  ministers  were  designated,  who  should 
have  the  oversight  of  the  studies  of  young  men,  and 
prepare  them  for  the  pastoral  work.  So  early  as  1 794 
the  Associate  Church  established  a  theological  semi- 
nary under  the  care  of  Dr.  John  Anderson.  It  was  lo- 
cated at  Service,  in  Beaver  county,  Pa. — the  first  theo- 
logical seminary  on  the  continent.  The  old  log  build- 
ing still  stands.  In  1804  the  theological  seminary  of  the 
Associate  Reformed  Church  was  opened  in  New  York, 
Dr.  John  M.  Mason  being  the  instructor. 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 


447 


The  educational  institutions  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church  are  under  Synodical  control.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  prescribes  the  term  and  the  course  of 
study  in  the   theological  seminaries,  but   the  support, 


Up 


OLDEST   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY    IN    AMERICA,    SERVICE,    PA. 

control     and     election    of    professors,    belong    to    the 
Synods  in   charge.     There  are  two  seminaries  : 

Allegheny. — Allegheny,  Pa.;  founded  in  1825  by  the 
Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  West  ;  under  the 
care  of  the  First  Synod  of  the  West  and  the  Synods  of 
New  York,  Pittsburgh,  and  Ohio  ;  five  professorships,  all 


448  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tilled  ;  number  of  students,  66  ;  total  number  from  be- 
ginning, 898  ;  property  and  endowments,  $260,000. 

Xenia. — Xenia,  O. ;  founded  by  the  Associate  Synod 
in  1794,  at  Service,  Pa.,  removed  to  Canonsburg,  Pa., 
in  182 1,  to  Xenia,  O.,  1855  ;  under  the  care  of  the 
Second  Synod  and  the  Synods  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  Neb- 
raska, and  Kansas  ;  4  professorships,  all  filled;  number 
of  students,  45  ;  property  and  endowments,  $120,000. 

There  is  also  a  theological  seminary  in  connection 
with  each  of  the  foreign  missions. 

The  colleges  are  as  follows : 

Muskingum. — New  Concord,  O.;  founded  in  1837; 
under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio. 

Westminster. — New  Wilmington,  Pa.;  founded,  1852  ; 
under  the  control  of  the  First  Synod  of  the  West  and 
the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh. 

Monmouth. — Monmouth,  111.;  founded,  1855  ;  under 
the  care  of  the  Synods  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska. 

Tarkio. — Tarkio,  Mo.;  founded,  1885  ;  under  the 
care   of  the   Synods   of    Iowa  and   Nebraska. 

Cooper  Memorial. — Sterling,  Kan.;  founded,  1886; 
under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Kansas. 

Knoxville. — Knoxville,  Tenn.;  founded,  1876. 

Thy ne  Institute. — Chase  City,  Va. ;  founded,  1876. 

Norfolk. — Norfolk,  Va.;  founded,  1884.  The  three 
last  named  are  for  the  colored  people,  and  are  under 
the  care  of  the  Board  of  Missions  to  the  Freedmen. 

Prosperous  academies  are  located  at  Marissa,  111., 
Pawnee  City,  Neb.,  and  Waitsburg,  Wash. 

The  value  of  the  real  estate  held  by  the  collegiate 
and  academic  institutions  is  about  $265,000,  and  the 
endowment  fund,  excluding  Knoxville,  Norfolk,  Thyne 
Institute  and  the  academies,  amount  to  about  $325,000. 


THE    UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  449 

PERIODICALS. 

The  United  Presbyterian. — Established,  1842  ;  pub- 
lished at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;   weekly. 

The  Christian  Instructor. — Established,  1844  ;  pub- 
lished at  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  weekly. 

The  Midland. — Established,  1883  ;  published  at 
Omaha,  Neb.;  weekly. 

The  Evangelical  Repository. — Established,  1824  ; 
published  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;   monthly. 

The  Young  Christian,  The  Youth's  Evangelist  and 
Olive  Plants  are  issued  by  the  Board  of  Publication 
for  Young  People  and  Sabbath  Schools. 

GROWTH. 

In  closing  this  short  sketch  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church  it  is  proper  to  refer  to  its  growth  since 
its  organization  in  1858. 

A  smaller  church  is  at  a  disadvantage  in  the  presence 
of  larger  ones  closely  related,  but  notwithstanding  this, 
there  has  been  a  steady  and  substantial  growth.  In 
1859,  tne  first  year  hi  which  the  statistics  are  given, 
there  were  408  ministers;  in  1892  there  were  797;  a 
gain  of  95.3  per  cent.  The  number  of  members  has 
increased  at  the  same  rate,  viz.:  from  55,547  to  109,- 
018  ;  or  96.3  per  cent.  The  congregations  have  be- 
come larger,  and  in  number  have  increased  to  920 
from  654.  The  number  of  persons  added  to  the 
Church  on  the  profession  of  their  faith  in  1892,  was 
6,975,  or  6.5  per  cent.;  an  average  of  13  to  every  pastor. 

There  are  60  Presbyteries,  under  10  Synods,  in  this 
country  ;  the  Presbyteries  in  India  and  Egypt  have 
Synodical  powers. 


45o 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


In  1869,  when  the  full  reports  were  first  given,  there 
were  567  Sabbath  schools,  having  an  average  term  of  9 
months  in  the  year  ;  6068  officers  and  teachers,  and 
43,806  scholars,  contributing  $19,133.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  1090  schools,  open  11.5  months  in  the 
year;    11,415    officers    and    teachers,    98,859    scholars, 

whose  contributions  are 
$76,058. 

In  contributions  there 
has  been  an  increase 
from  $253,150,  for  all 
purposes,  in  1858,  to 
$1,145,987  in  1891  ;  an 
average  of  $  1 3. 38  a  mem- 
ber— an  increase  of  409 
per  cent. 
The  United  Presbyterian  Church  cherishes  the 
names  and  honors  the  work  of  its  ministers  who  have 
entered  into  rest.  They  have  been  eminent  as  pastors, 
and  faithful  expositors  of  the  divine  word.  It  is  grate- 
ful to  God  for  what  it  has  been  permitted  and  enabled 
to  do  in  His  name,  and  for  the  blessing  now  resting 
upon  it.  It  also  looks  forward  with  confidence.  It 
hears  the  call  of  God's  providence  and  feels  the  quick- 
ening of  His  Spirit.  Its  ministers  are  earnest,  its 
people  hold  firmly  to  the  principles  of  their  profession, 
and  both  ministers  and  people  have  the  enthusiasm  of 
work  for  the  Master. 


XENIA   SEMINARY,    XENIA,    O. 


REV.    FINIS    EWING. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 
By  Rev.  J.  M.  HOWARD,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  J.  M.  HUBBERT,  D.  D. 

THE  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  had  a  very 
humble  beginning.  Three  Presbyterian  ministers, 
Finis  Ewine,  Samuel  King  and  Samuel  McAdow,  on 
the  4th  day  of  February,  18 10,  at  McAdow's  home,  a 
log  cabin  in  Dickson  County,  Tennessee,  organized  a 
new  and  independent  Presbytery.  It  was  named  Cum- 
berland Presbytery  and  became  the  organic  germ  of  a 
new  denomination  of  Christians — Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rians. This  solemn  act  was  the  crisis  of  a  movement 
and  a  controversy  which  had  begun  a  dozen  years  be- 
fore. The  movement  was  the  great  revival  of  1800, 
and  the  controversy  was  between  the  promoters  and  the 
opposers  of  the  revival. 

The  great  spiritual  awakening  that  swept  through  the 
Western  wilderness  was  kindled  in  the  experience  and 
through  the  agency  of  one  man,  James  McGready.  He 
was  born  in  North  Carolina,  but  studied  under  John  Mc- 
Millan in  Western  Pennsylvania.  About  1786  he,  by 
accident,  overheard  a  conversation  between  two  of  his 
friends,  of  which  he  was  the  subject.  They  freely  ex- 
pressed their  views  about  his  religious  character,  declar- 
ing that,  though  a  minister  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
he  was  a  mere  formalist,  "a  stranger  to  regenerating 
grace."     This  led  him   to   earnest  self-examination  and 

451 


452  PRESBYTERIANS. 

prayer,  and  at  a  sacramental  meeting  near  the  Monon- 
gahela  River  he  found  the  new  spiritual  life  which  his 
friends  had  declared  he  lacked.  This  new  experience 
transformed  his  whole  life.  Thenceforth  he  made  it  his 
mission  to  arouse  false  professors,  to  awaken  a  dead 
church,  and  warn  sinners  and  lead  them  to  seek  the 
new  spiritual  life  which  he  himself  had  found.  In 
North  Carolina,  whither  he  went  as  pastor,  extensive 
revivals  were  kindled.  His  ministry  also  aroused  fierce 
opposition.  He  was  accused  of  "running  people  dis- 
tracted," diverting  them  from  necessary  avocations, 
"  creating  needless  alarm  about  their  souls."  The  op- 
posers,  we  are  told,  went  so  far  at  one  time  as  to  tear 
away  and  burn  his  pulpit,  and  send  him  a  threatening 
letter  written  in  blood. 

In  1796  McGready  moved  to  Logan  County,  Ken- 
tucky, taking  charge  of  three  country  congregations 
known  as  Gasper  River,  Red  River,  and  Muddy  River 
churches.  Here,  as  in  North  Carolina,  his  ministry 
soon  created  wide-spread  interest.  His  sermons  were 
a  ringing  alarm,  which  everywhere  either  awakened  pen- 
itence or  aroused  opposition. 

The  region  had  long  been  known  as  Cumberland,  or 
the  Cumberland  Country,  and  embraced  that  part  of 
the  States  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  lying  between 
Green  River  on  the  north  and  the  Tennessee  Ridge 
not  far  south  of  Nashville  on  the  south,  and  reaching 
to  the  Tennessee  River  on  the  west.  The  scattered 
population  was  made  up  of  hardy  and  adventurous 
pioneers  who  had  come  from  States  farther  east  to  seek 
homes  in  this  wilderness.  Among  them  were  many 
Presbyterian  families.  These,  like  others,  were  im- 
mersed in   the  arduous,  worldly  pursuits  of  the  back- 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  453 

woods.  The  Indian  warfare  that  racked  during  the  Rev- 
olution  and  afterward  had  but  lately  ended,  and  all 
were  fighting  an  absorbing  worldly  battle,  felling  forests 
and  opening  farms.  The  seeds  of  French  infidelity, 
sowed  during  the  Revolutionary  period,  had  taken  root 
in  the  West  as  well  as  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Deists 
and  other  scoffers  were  not  wanting.  Much  of  the 
preaching  in  the  Presbyterian  pulpits  was  unsuited  to 
the  practical  needs  of  the  people — a  cold  and  lifeless 
discussion  of  doctrine.  Many  church  members,  and 
even  some  pastors,  were  destitute  of  vital  piety.  Such 
a  thing  as  "religion  that  could  be  felt"  was  hardly 
known.  In  brief,  there  was  absorption  in  worldly  af» 
fairs  and  pleasures,  joined  to  prevailing  unbelief  and 
much  outbreaking  sin  in  worldly  circles,  and  deadly 
apathy  and  formality  in  the  churches. 

Amid  such  surroundings  McGready  began  his  minis- 
try in  Kentucky.  The  revival,  like  all  genuine  revivals, 
was  kindled  by  prayer.  McGready  wrote  out  a  prayer 
covenant  which  a  few  faithful  members  of  his  congrega- 
tion joined  him  in  signing.  It  was  in  these  words: 
"  We  bind  ourselves  to  observe  the  third  Saturday  in 
each  month  for  one  year  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners  in  Logan  County  and 
throughout  the  world.  We  engage  to  spend  one-half 
hour  every  Saturday  evening,  beginning  at  the  setting 
of  the  sun,  and  one-half  hour  every  Sabbath  morning 
at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  in  pleading  with  God  to  revive 
his  work." 

In  May,  1797,  these  faithful  prayers  began  to  bear 
fruit.  A  woman  in  Gasper  River  Church  was  the  first 
convert.  She  visited  relatives  and  friends,  telling  them 
of  her  new  experience  and  hopes,  and  warning  and  ex- 


454  PRESBYTERIANS. 

horting  them.  The  interest  spread  from  house  to 
house  until  the  entire  congregation  was  aroused.  This 
was  the  beginning.  With  some  intermissions  of  cold- 
ness the  work  continued,  until  three  years  later  the 
whole  West  was  aflame  with  its  power.  Almost  with 
the  beginning  of  the  revival,  the  opposition  to  it  and 
the  controversy  about  it  began.  Infidels  and  wicked 
men  were,  of  course,  in  the  ranks  of  the  opposers,  but 
from  the  first  there  was  opposition  by  church  members 
and  ministers.  Rev.  James  Balch,  a  member  of  Mc- 
Gready's  Presbytery  (Transylvania)  visited  Gasper 
River  to  put  a  stop  to  what  he  and  others  thought  the 
disorderly  and  fanatical  proceedings.  He  ridiculed  the 
movement  and  denounced  McGready's  teachings,  es- 
pecially the  doctrine  of  a  conscious  new  birth — "exper- 
imental religion."  He  succeeded  in  forming  a  consid- 
erable party  of  opposers,  involving  the  churches  in 
confusion,  and  threatening  for  a  time  to  extinguish  the 
revival. 

But  in  July  and  August,  1799,  the  work  began  again 
with  new  power.  On  a  Monday  in  August,  at  Gasper 
River,  there  was  such  absorbing  interest  that  thecongre- 
gation  refused  to  disperse  when  the  benediction  was 
pronounced.  After  a  solemn  interval  of  silence  the 
voices  of  praying  penitents  were  heard  and  many  were 
so  overcome  with  a  sense  of  sin  and  condemnation  that 
they  fell  from  their  seats. 

This  was  the  first  camp  meeting  in  Christendom.  A 
family  that  had  just  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  from 
North  Carolina,  desiring  to  attend  the  meetings,  came 
with  their  wagons  and  encamped  near  the  church.  At 
another  sacramental  meeting  in  the  autumn  a  number 
of  other    families    imitated    this    example.      The    next 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  455 

summer  McGready  sent  invitations  far  and  near,  urging 
ministers  and  others  friendly  to  the  revival  to  come  to 
the  sacramental  meeting-  at  Gasper  River  prepared  to 
encamp  and  remain  several  days.  A  large  number  re- 
sponded. This  was  in  July,  1800.  From  this  first  pre- 
meditated camp  meeting  the  seeds  of  revival  were  scat- 
tered in  distant  places.  William  McGee,  pastor  of 
Shiloh  Church,  Sumner  County,  Tennessee,  and  a  num- 
ber of  his  people  were  among  the  campers,  and  they 
carried  the  revival  fire  back  to  Tennessee.  They  held 
a  camp  meeting  of  their  own  at  Shiloh  soon  after. 
Thus  the  work  spread  from  neighborhood  to  neighbor- 
hood, till  every  corner  of  the  wilderness  was  stirred 
by  it. 

But  the  opposition  also  grew  with  the  growth  of  the 
revival.     There  were  three  chief  causes  for  this  : 

First,  the  revival  itself  was  offensive  to  many.  There 
was  in  it  a  reproof  to  unbelievers  and  open  sinners,  and 
even  greater  reproof  to  unfaithful  or  unconverted 
church  members.  Among  the  opposers  in  the  Church 
many  were,  no  doubt,  honest  and  conscientious.  They 
looked  on  the  anxiety  of  penitents  and  the  joyous  emo- 
tions of  converts  as  fanaticism  or  the  result  of  Satanic 
influence.  They  were  offended  and  scandalized  by  a 
zeal  and  an  earnestness  which  they  could  not  feel  or 
sympathize  with.  They  believed  that,  in  opposing  these 
demonstrations,  they  were  the  champions  of  soberness 
and  good  order,  and  were  therefore  doing  God  service. 

Second,  the  measures  adopted  to  promote  the  revival 
were  a  further  cause  of  complaint.  The  mourners' 
bench  was  condemned  as  an  unscriptural  device  ;  camp 
meetings,  which  sprang  up  in  every  neighborhood,  as 
disorderly    gatherings.      The     method    resorted    to    in 


456  PRESBYTERIANS. 

securing  preachers  to  meet  the  increasing  demands  of 
the  revival,  and  to  provide  missionary  pastors  for  the 
multiplying  congregations,  was  a  still  more  serious  cause 
for  offense.  Men  who  had  not  attained  to  the  required 
standard  of  literary  qualification  were  licensed  as  ex- 
horters  and  evangelists,  and  placed  on  "circuits"  to 
travel  and  hold  meetings.  This  was  regarded  as  es- 
pecially irregular  and  un-Presbyterian. 

Third,  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  revivalists  were  a 
third  and  deeper  cause  of  opposition  and  controversy. 
The  very  earnestness  to  win  souls,  the  very  pleading  with 
sinners  to  accept  salvation  freely  offered  to  all,  seemed 
a  denial  of  the  certainty  and  definiteness  of  the  eternal 
decrees  as  taught  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Confession  of  Faith.  But  there  was,  from  the 
anti-revivalists'  point  of  view,  positive  as  well  as  im- 
plied heresy.  The  men  licensed  and  afterward  or- 
dained by  the  revival  ministers  were  permitted  to  adopt 
the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  "  the  idea  of  fatality,"  as  it  seemed  to  be  taught  in 
that  book.  This  last  offense  proved,  in  the  end,  the 
one  irreconcilable  difference  between  the  two  parties. 
All  other  difficulties  might  have  been  adjusted. 

Growing:  out  of  these  three  orionnal  causes  of  differ- 
ence  was  a  fourth — the  ecclesiastical  controversy.  This 
grew  more  and  more  complicated  and  bitter,  until  it 
ended  in  the  organization  of  the  new  Presbytery  and 
the  new  Church. 

As  the  revival  progressed,  whole  neighborhoods  and 
districts  begged  to  be  supplied  with  pastors  or  mission- 
aries. The  ministers  could  not  answer  one  in  ten  of 
the  calls  that  thus  came  to  them.  Under  the  advice  of 
the    most  aged  member  of    Transylvania   Presbytery, 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  457 

Rev.  David  Rice,  men  of  approved  intelligence  and  re- 
ligious character,  with  talents  fitting  them  to  speak  in 
public,  though  without  classical  education,  were  encour- 
aged to  exercise  their  gifts  in  exhortation.  Three  such 
young  men,  Alexander  Anderson,  Finis  Ewing  and 
Samuel  King,  presented  themselves  in  1801  and  were 
licensed  by  the  Presbytery  to  "  catechise  and  exhort." 
They  were  put  on  three  circuits,  including  all  the  pas- 
torless  churches  and  destitute  neighborhoods.  These 
they  visited  regularly,  holding  services  and  addressing 
the  people  without  the  formality  of  taking  a  text. 

The  next  five  or  six  years  were  a  period  of  wonder- 
ful growth  and  progress  in  the  revival,  and  rapidly 
widening  divergence  between  the  two  parties. 

In  1802  Kentucky  Synod  divided  Transylvania  Pres- 
bytery, forming  Cumberland  Presbytery  out  of  that 
portion  of  its  territory  embracing  the  Green  River  and 
Cumberland  countries.  Five  of  the  ten  ministers  com- 
posing the  new  Presbytery,  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  T. 
Templin,  John  Bowman,  Samuel  Donnell  and  James 
Balch,  were  the  bitter  opposers  of  the  revival  ;  the 
other  five,  James  McGready,  William  Hodge,  William 
McGee,  John  Rankin  and  Samuel  McAdow,  were  its 
earnest  promoters.  By  the  addition  of  the  Rev.  James 
Hawe,  who  came  through  the  Transylvania  Presbytery 
from  the  Methodist  Church-,  the  revival  party  acquired 
a  majority  of  one.  In  May,  1803,  the  new  Presbytery 
ordained  Alexander  Anderson,  and  the  ordination  of 
Finig  Ewing  followed  in  November,  and  that  of  Samuel 
King  in  June,  1804.  Thus  the  friends  of  the  revival 
had  a  growing  majority  in  the  Presbytery,  and  at  almost 
every  meeting  there  were  licensures  and  accessions  to 
the  number  of  candidates,  and  Cumberland  Presbytery 


458 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


grew  to  be  the  ecclesiastical  representative  and  instru- 
ment of  the  revival.  The  revival  preachers  came  to  be 
designated  first  as  "the  majority  of  Cumberland  Pres- 
bytery," then  the  "Cumberland  party,"  or  "The  Cum- 
berlands."  In  this  way  the  name  of  the  new  denom- 
ination, Cumberland  Presbyterians,  had  its  origin. 

In  October,  1804,  the  minority  of  the  Presbytery,  led 
by  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  presented  to  Kentucky  Synod 


LINCOLN    UNIVERSITY,    LINCOLN,    ILL. 

a  letter  of  remonstrance  against  the  proceedings  of  the 
Presbytery,  charging  the  majority  with  irregularity  and 
doctrinal  unsoundness.  The  Synod  cited  the  parties, 
"both  complained  of  and  complaining,"  to  appear  be- 
fore it  at  its  next  meeting.  It  also  appointed  a  com- 
mittee "to  attend  the  earliest  meeting  of  Cumberland 
Presbytery  and  inquire  into  the  case  and  report  to  the 
Synod."  Thus  the  lines  were  definitely  drawn.  One 
party  was  supreme  in  the  Presbytery,  the  other  in  the 
Synod.      The  friends  of  the  revival  claimed  that,  while 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  459 

the  Synod  had  a  right  to  redress  any  wrong  done  by 
the  Presbytery,  it  could  not  legally  cite  the  members  to 
appear  before  its  bar  or  disannul  Presbyterial  acts 
when  no  regular  appeal  from  the  Presbytery's  decisions 
had  been  taken.  Many  also  objected  to  the  Synod's 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  act  as  "spies"  on  the 
Presbyterial  proceedings.  None  of  the  revival  minis- 
ters obeyed  the  citation  to  appear  before  the  Synod, 
and  but  one  member  of  the  committee  of  "spies"  at- 
tended the  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  April,  1805. 
In  October  of  the  same  year,  Cumberland  Presbytery 
held  what  proved  to  be  its  last  meeting.  During  the 
three  years  since  its  organization  it  had  ordained  four 
ministers  friendly  to  the  revival  party  and  licensed  seven, 
besides  receiving  under  its  care  a  number  of  candidates 
and  exhorters. 

Kentucky  Synod,  at  its  meeting,  October,  1805,  re- 
viewed and  severely  criticised  the  minutes  of  Cumber- 
land Presbytery.  The  irregularities,  which  it  was  alleged 
that  these  records  revealed,  were  thought  so  grave  as 
to  require  summary  action.  So  the  Synod  appointed  a 
commission  composed  of  nine  ministers  and  six  elders, 
"clothed  with  full  Synodical  powers,"  "to  confer  with 
the  members  of  Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  to  adjudi- 
cate upon  the  Presbyterial  proceedings  which  appear 
upon  the  minutes  of  said  Presbytery." 

The  commission,  every  member  of  which  was  a  known 
opposer  of  the  revival  and  the  "Cumberland"  party, 
met  at  Gasper  meeting  house,  December  3,  1805.  Its 
sessions  continued  four  days.  All  the  members  of 
Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  the  candidates  and  licen- 
tiates under  their  care,  obeyed  the  summons  to  appear. 
On    the   third    day   the    commission    adopted  a  paper 


460  PRESBYTERIANS. 

solemnly  condemning  the  Presbytery  for  licensing  a 
number  of  young  men  to  preach  the  gospel  and  ordain- 
ing some  "contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  Church.  .  .  . 
Whereas,  these  men  have  been  required  by  said  Presby- 
tery to  adopt  the  said  Confession  of  Faith  and  Disci- 
pline of  said  Church  no  farther  than  they  believe  it  to 
be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God."  It  was  also  re- 
solved that  the  commission  would  then  and  there  "pro- 
ceed to  examine  those  persons  irregularly  licensed  and 
those  irregularly  ordained  by  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
tery." The  members  of  the  Presbytery  refused  to  sub- 
mit to  this  resolution,  declaring  that  "  they  had  the 
exclusive  right  to  examine  and  license  their  own  can- 
didates, and  Synod  had  no  right  to  take  them  out 
of  their  hands  ; "  and  that  the  Synod  had  no  right  to 
arraign  and  try  one  of  the  Presbytery's  ordained  minis- 
ters. The  "  young  men,"  i.  c,  those  who  had  received 
ordination  or  licensure  at  the  Presbytery's  hands,  were 
next  solemnly  adjured  to  come  forward  and  submit  to 
examination.  They  asked,  and,  after  some  debate,  were 
granted  the  privilege  of  retiring  for  prayer.  As  they 
returned  one  by  one  the  question  was  put  to  each,  "  Do 
you  submit?"  and  each  gave  a  negative  answer,  affirm- 
ing that  the  Presbytery  was  "competent  to  judge  of 
the  faith  and  abilities  of  its  candidates."  The  commis- 
sion then  rendered  its  verdict  declaring  the  young  men 
"  not  only  illiterate,  but  erroneous  in  sentiment,"  and 
that  their  ordination  or  licensure  was,  therefore,  illegal, 
and  prohibiting  them  "  from  exhorting,  preaching  or 
administering  the  sacraments."  The  older  ministers  of 
the  revival  party — those  ordained  before  the  contro- 
versy arose — were  cited  to  appear  before  the  Synod  at 
its  next  meeting,  October,  1806,  for  trial,  all  of  them 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  461 

for  refusing  to  submit  to  the  Synod's  authority,  and 
three  of  them  for  heretical  views  about  election. 
Whether  their  conviction  was  well  founded  or  not,  many 
believed  that  the  real  object  of  the  commission  was  to 
put  an  end  to  the  revival.  The  fact  that  the  Rev.  John 
Lyle,  the  known  enemy  of  the  revival,  was  a  leading 
member  of  the  commission,  gave  color  to  this  opinion. 
It  is  said  that  the  popular  feeling  was  such  that  the 
people  near  the  church  refused  to  open  their  houses  to 
the  commissioners.  Whatever  was  the  purpose,  it  is 
certain  the  commission's  edict,  had  it  been  obeyed, 
would  have  ended  the  revival  by  silencing  the  most 
effective  revival  preachers. 

After  the  commission  adjourned  the  members  of  the 
Presbytery  held  a  consultation,  and  decided  to  continue 
preaching  as  before,  and  to  encourage  the  young  men  to 
persevere  in  their  work,  disregarding  what  they  believed 
an  illegal  prohibition.  While  they  would  thus  foster 
the  revival,  they  decided  to  refrain  from  official  Presby- 
terial  action,  and  to  labor  earnestly  for  a  reconciliation 
with  the  Synod  and  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They 
organized  themselves  into  a  Council,  which  was  made 
up  of  ministers  and  elders   representing  congregations. 

During  the  next  four  years  there  was  steady  progress 
in  the  revival,  and  the  Council  labored  unremittingly, 
but  in  vain,  for  reconciliation  with  the  Synod.  Two 
members  of  the  Council,  the  Rev.  William  Hodge  and 
the  Rev.  John  Rankin,  attended  the  Synod's  meeting, 
October,  1806,  to  seek  some  adjustment  of  the  difficul- 
ties ;  but  the  Synod  proceeded  solemnly  to  suspend 
them  both  from  the  exercise  of  the  functions  of  the 
gospel  ministry  for  refusing  to  submit  to  the  commis- 
sion's  verdict.     At  this    meeting    the  Synod   also  for- 


462 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


mally  dissolved  Cumberland  Presbytery  and  remanded 
the  parties  and  their  complaints  to  Transylvania  Pres- 
bytery. 

In  May,  1807,  the  Council  sent  a  letter  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  giving  a  history  of  the  great  revival,  de- 
tailing the  exceptional  circumstances  which  had  led  to 
the  licensing  of   men   without    the   prescribed  literary 


MISSOURI    VALLEY    COLLEGE,    MARSHALL,    MO. 


qualifications,  and  explaining  that  the  exception  in 
adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  had  been  permitted 
because  of  "the  concise  manner  in  which  the  highly 
mysterious  doctrine  of  divine  decrees  is  therein  ex- 
pressed, which  was  thought  led  to  fatality."  They  dis- 
claimed any  desire  or  intention  to  become  a  new  party 
or  produce  secession  from  the  Church,  and  prayed  that 
the  Synod's  action  might  be  set  aside  and  their  Presby- 
terial  rights  restored,  entreating  the  Assembly's  inter- 
position to  prevent  the  loss  of  many  congregations  whose 
members  were  offended  at  the  action  of  the  Synod. 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  463 

The  Assembly  decided  that  it  was  not  called  on 
judicially  to  act  in  the  case  as  the  matter  had  not  come 
up  regularly  by  appeal.  A  letter  was,  however,  sent  to 
the  Synod  advising  it  to  review  its  action  and  "  take 
steps  to  mitigate  the  sufferings  its  censures  had  pro- 
duced." A  letter  was  also  sent  by  the  Assembly's 
order  to  the  members  of  Cumberland  Presbytery,  de- 
claring that  the  General  Assembly  questioned  the  reg- 
ularity of  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod,  "and  that  the 
Synod's  dealings  with  Cumberland  Presbytery  were 
wholly  improper  in  suspending  ordained  ministers,  and 
still  more  improper  was  it  for  a  commission  to  do  so." 

The  Synod  at  its  next  meeting,  October,  1807,  did 
review  its  action  ;  but  reaffirmed  its  decisions.  The 
Council  sent  a  second  petition  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, May,  1808,  and  again  received  the  answer  that,  as 
the  matter  had  not  come  up  by  appeal,  no  relief  could 
be  given.  But  another  semi-official  letter,  prepared  by 
a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  Rev.  J.  P.  Wilson, 
of  Philadelphia,  was  sent  to  the  Council  pronouncing 
the  action  of  the  commission  unconstitutional,  and 
stating  that  the  relief  asked  for  might  have  been  granted 
had  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  been  before  the  Assem- 
bly. The  letter  said  that  the  better  opinion  in  the 
Assembly  was  that  "  the  work  of  the  commission  was 
without  constitutional  authority  and  wholly  void,"  and 
that  a  letter  to  the  Synod  "  much  more  plain  than  the 
last  year's  letter "  was  read  in  the  Assembly's  com- 
mittee and  approved  by  paragraphs,  but  it  was  after- 
ward decided  not  to  send  it,  "  as  it  could  do  no  good 
and  might  exasperate  some  of  them."  Of  the  young 
men  admitted  to  the  ministry  by  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
bytery, Mr.  Wilson  said  :   "We  are  glad  to  hear  of  the 


464  PRESBYTERIANS. 

prudence,  diligence  and  success  of  the  men  you  ad- 
mitted. If  they  hold  to  the  form  of  sound  words,  and 
are  steadfast  in  the  faith,  they  will  be  as  much  beloved 
by  most  of  us  as  though  they  had  studied  long  and 
graduated." 

An  effort  to  secure  reconciliation  through  Transyl- 
vania Presbytery  was  next  made.  But  that  Presbytery 
decided  that  no  exception  concerning  "  fatality"  would 
be  permitted  in  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith.  In  a 
formal  letter  which  it  sent  as  its  ultimatum  the  Presby- 
tery said  :  "  With  relation  to  those  young  men  licensed 
and  ordained  by  the  aforesaid  Presbytery  (Cumberland), 
we  do  humbly  conceive  that  a  formal  examination  of 
them  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline  is  indispensable. 
An  unequivocal  adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  is 
also  indispensable.  .  .  .  For  them  to  adopt  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  only  in  part,  and  we  the  whole,  would 
by  no  means,  in  our  opinion,  effect  a  union  according 
to  truth  and  reality  ;  and  whatever  inference  may  be 
drawn  by  others  respecting  what  is  called  fatality  from 
our  views  as  expressed  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  re- 
specting divine  sovereignty  and  the  decrees  of  predes- 
tination and  election,  we  conceive  that  no  such  conclu- 
sion can  follow  from  the  premises  as  there  laid  down." 
That  is,  the  revival  ministers  composing  the  Council 
were  told  that  they  must  either  suppress  their  scruples 
about  what  seemed  to  them  the  false  doctrine  of  the 
Presbyterian  creed,  or  be  shut  out  from  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  Presbyterian  preachers.  They  chose  the 
latter  alternative. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1809  had  before  it  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Council  praying  for  redress,  also  Kentucky 
Synod's  minutes,  and  a  letter  from  that  body,  explaining 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 


465 


its  proceedings.  The  Rev.  John  Lyle,  the  old  enemy 
of  the  revival,  was  the  bearer  of  this  letter.  Through 
his  influence  and  pleading  the  Assembly  was  led  to  vote 
unanimously  to  sustain  all  the  measures  adopted  by  the 
Synod,  adding  a  vote  of  thanks  to  its  members  for  their 
fidelity!  That  the  decision  was  contrary  to  Presbyte- 
rian law  and  usage,  is  now,  more  than  eighty  years  after 


TRINITY    UNIVERSITY,     TEHUACANA,    TEX. 


the  event,  almost  universally  admitted.  Perhaps  very 
few  Presbyterian  ministers  could  to-day  be  found  who 
would  try  to  uphold  the  constitutionality  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Kentucky  Synod  ;  and  some  think  and  say, 
"the  less  said  about  it  the  better  !  " 

The  approval  of  the  Synod's  action  by  the  General 
Assembly  really  cut  off  the  last  hope  of  reconciliation  ; 
but  when  the  Council  met  in  August,  1809,  it  was  re- 
solved to  make  a  final  appeal  to  the  Synod.  But  this 
effort  failed,  though  the  members  of  the  Council  offered 


466  PRESBYTERIANS. 

to  yield  everything  that  did  not  involve  the  abandoning 
of  the  work  of  the  revival  and  the  adoption  of  what 
they  regarded  the  doctrine  of  "  fatality." 

October  4  the  Council  met  and  voted  to  organize  an 
independent  Presbytery.  At  this  juncture  William 
Hodge,  one  of  the  older  ministers,  his  nephew,  Samuel 
Hodge,  and  Thomas  Nelson  withdrew.  All  three  soon 
after  adopted  the  Westminster  Confession,  without  re- 
servation, and  were  at  once  admitted  to  all  the  rights  of 
Presbyterian  ministers.  As  none  of  the  men  ordained 
or  licensed  by  Cumberland  Presbytery  were  more  defec- 
tive in  literary  attainments  than  Samuel  Hodge,  this 
action  in  his  case  makes  it  manifest  that  all  the  members 
of  the  Council  would  have  been  welcomed  back  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church  had  they  consented  to  renounce 
their  objections  to  the  Presbyterian  creed.  Samuel 
Hodge  did  not  begin  the  study  of  English  grammar 
until  several  years  after  he  was  thus  received  as  an  or- 
dained minister  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Thus  it  is 
evident  that  difference  of  doctrinal  views,  and  not  the 
question  of  ministerial  education,  was  the  final  cause  of 
separation. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  two  Hodges  and  Nelson  left 
but  three  ordained  ministers  in  the  Council,  William 
McGee,  Finis  Ewina-  and  Samuel  King.  McGee, 
while  he  could  not  accept  what  he  thought  the  idea  of 
fatality  taught  in  the  Westminster  Confession,  and 
while  he  held  that  "  the  truth  lay  betwixt  Calvinism 
and  Arminianism,"  was  yet  unwilling  to  unite  with  the 
others  in  the  organization  of  a  Presbytery,  until  a  new 
creed  could  be  formulated.  This  left  the  Council  with- 
out the  constitutional  number  needed  to  form  a  Pres- 
bytery. 


THE   CUMBERLAND   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  467 

McGready  had,  soon  after  the  action  of  the  commis- 
sion, moved  away  from  Logan  County  and  ceased  to  act 
with  the  Council ;  McAdow's  ill  health  kept  him  away. 
The  Council  therefore  adjourned,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  unless  three  ordained  ministers  should,  before 
the  time  appointed  for  its  next  meeting,  March,  1810, 
constitute  a  Presbytery,  its  members  should  thereafter 
be  released  from  the  bond  that  held  them  together. 
Things  stood  in  this  doubtful  attitude  from  October  till 
February  3,  when  Finis  Ewing  and  Samuel  King,  ac- 
companied by  Ephraim  McLean,  a  licentiate,  repaired 
to  the  house  of  Samuel  McAdow  and  laid  before  him 
the  question  of  forming  an  independent  Presbytery. 
McAdow  spent  the  whole  night  in  prayer,  and  in  the 
morning,  February  4,  with  face  aglow,  announced  his 
readiness  to  join  in  the  organization.  So  Cumberland 
Presbytery  was  solemnly  constituted,  and,  as  its  first  act, 
proceeded  to  ordain  Ephraim  McLean.  It  held  its 
second  meeting  the  next  month  at  Ridge  meeting  house, 
at  which  time  several  congregations  were  represented. 
Six  licensed  preachers  and  seven  candidates  for  the 
ministry  were  received  under  its  care.  Four  meetings 
were  held  during  the  first  year.  At  a  meeting  in  the 
autumn  of  1810  William  McGee  became  a  member. 
At  the  fifth  meeting  (181 1)  eight  churches  were  rep- 
resented. 

In  October,  181 3,  three  and  a  half  years  after  its 
organization,  the  Presbytery  had  so  increased  in  num- 
bers, and  in  the  extent  of  the  territory  occupied,  as  to 
make  its  division  into  three  Presbyteries  and  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Synod  necessary.  The  Synod  was  named 
Cumberland  Synod,  and  was  made  up  of  the  Presby- 
teries of  Nashville,  Logan  and  Elk.      Up  to  this  time 


468  PRESBYTERIANS. 

there  had  been  a  lingering-  hope  of  reconciliation  and 
reunion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  formation 
of  the  Synod  was  the  act  of  final  separation. 

The  Spirit  and  power  of  the  revival  were  perpet- 
uated in  the  new  organization.  The  work  extended  to 
wider  and  wider  fields.  In  1817,  following  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  which  had  been  appointed  by  the 
Synod — a  new  prayer  covenant  similar  to  McGready's 
— the  revival  work  received  new  impetus.  In  1820  the 
denomination  had  spread  to  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Illi- 
nois, Indiana,  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  and  a  number 
of  missionaries  were  laboring  among  the  Indian  tribes. 
In  1822  the  number  of  ordained  ministers  was  46,  and 
2718  conversions  were  that  year  reported.  In  1834, 
10,688  conversions  were  reported.  Rev.  Jas.  Smith, 
who  wrote  and  published  a  history  of  the  Church  at 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  1835,  estimated  the  numerical 
strength  of  the  denomination  that  year  as  follows : 
Synods,  9;  Presbyteries,  35;  ordained  ministers,  300; 
licensed  preachers,  100  ;  candidates.  75  ;  communi- 
cants, 50,000.  After  that  and  until  the  beginning 
of  the  Civil  War  the  growth  of  the  Church  was  rapid 
and  uninterrupted.  In  1828  Cumberland  Synod  was 
divided  into  four  Synods,  and  in  May,  1829,  at  Prince- 
ton, Ky.,  the  first  General  Assembly  convened.  There 
were  18  Presbyteries,  16  of  which  were  represented 
by  16  ministers  and  9  elders. 

In  1 83 1  five  missionaries  were  sent  by  the  General 
Assembly  to  Pennsylvania,  in  response  to  a  petition 
from  certain  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  western  part  of  that  State.  Under  their  ministry  a 
revival  hardly  less  remarkable  than  that  of  1800  was 
kindled,    many   congregations  grew  up  ;   Pennsylvania 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 


469 


Presbytery  was  organized  in  1832  and  Pennsylvania 
Synod  in  1838.  This  Synod  is  now  composed  of  four 
Presbyteries  and  sustains  an  institution  of  learning  of 


g, 


WAYNESBURG    COLLEGE,    WAYNESBURG,    PA. 

high  order,  Waynesburg  College,   located  at  Waynes- 
burg,  Greene  County,  Pa. 

Sumner  Bacon,  a  volunteer  and  self-supporting  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  missionary,  began  to  preach  in 
Texas  as  early  as  1828.  Texas  Presbytery  was  formed 
in  1837.  There  were  then  but  four  congregations  in 
that  republic.  Texas  Synod  now  has  551  congrega- 
tions and  27  Presbyteries.  Thus  the  work  continued  to 
spread,  reaching  Louisiana,  Ohio,  West  Virginia, 
Iowa,  Georgia,  Kansas,  California,  Oregon  and  the 
Western  Territories.      A   record   of    the   adventures  of 


A7°  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  missionaries  of  the  church  who  visited  distant  set- 
tlements, establishing  congregations  and  schools  on  the 
very  borders  of  civilization,  would  form  a  most  thrilling 
narrative. 

When  Cumberland  Synod  was  formed  in  1813,  one 
of  its  first  acts  was  to  appoint  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
Confession  of  Faith.  In  the  form  of  words  adopted 
three  and  a  half  years  before,  in  constituting  Cumber- 
land Presbytery,  was  this  provision  concerning  doctrine  : 
"  All  licentiates  and  probationers  who  may  hereafter  be 
ordained  by  this  Presbytery  shall  be  required,  before 
such  licensure  or  ordination,  to  receive  and  adopt  the 
Confession  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
except  the  idea  of  fatality,  which  seems  to  be  taught 
under  the  mysterious  doctrine  of  predestination.  It  is 
understood,  however,  that  such  as  can  clearly  receive 
the  Confession  without  an  exception  shall  not  be  re- 
quired to  make  any."  In  forming  the  Synod  a  brief 
doctrinal  statement  was  adopted  in  which  the  points  of 
dissent  from  the  Westminster  Confession  were  thus 
stated:  1.  "There  are  no  Eternal  reprobates.  2. 
Christ  died  not  for  a  part  only,  but  for  all  mankind. 
3.  All  infants  dying  in  infancy  are  saved  through 
Christ  and  salification  of  the  Spirit.  4.  The  Spirit 
of  God  operates  on  the  world,  or  as  coextensively  as 
Christ  has  made  the  atonement,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
leave  all  men  inexcusable." 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  to  prepare 
a  creed,  simply  modified  the  Westminster  Confession, 
expunging  what  they  believed  unscriptural  and  supply- 
ing what  they  thought  omissions  of  vital  truth.  The 
chief  changes  were  in  chapters  iii  and  x,  and  con- 
sisted in  the  elimination  of  what  is  known  as  preter- 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  47 1 

ition,  or  what  the  fathers  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church  called  "fatality."  The  Presbyterian 
polity  was  retained  ;  also  the  Evangelical  Presbyterian 
doctrines — such  as  the  inspiration  and  infallibility  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  fall  and  condemnation  of  the  race, 
total  depravity,  the  salvation  of  believers  through  a 
vicarious  atonement,  and  the  eternal  punishment  of  the 
finally  impenitent. 

This  revised  Confession  of  Faith  was  adopted  by  the 
Synod,  October  14,  18 14,  and  continued  to  be  the  ac- 
cepted creed  of  the  Church  until  1883,  when  a  new  re- 
vision was  adopted  in  which  the  same  essential  doctrines 
enunciated  in  the  revision  of  1814  are  stated  in  some- 
what briefer  form  and  with  a  more  logical  arrangement 
of  subjects.  The  creed  of  Cumberland  Presbyterians, 
as  it  differs  from  Calvinism  on  the  one  hand  and  Ar- 
minianism  on  the  other,  may  be  stated  in  connection 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  new  birth— the  central  theme 
of  the  revival  of  1800 — as  follows : 

1.  All  men  must  be  born  again  or  perish. 

2.  All  may  be  born  again  and  not  perish. 

3.  None  who  are  born  again  will  perish. 

The  first  proposition,  while  it  is  accepted  by  all,  means 
more  to  Cumberland  Presbyterians  than  to  others  ;  for 
they  believe  that  the  soul's  salvation  is  made  certain  in 
the  hour  of  the  new  birth,  while  Calvinists  believe  that 
this  certain  election  of  the  soul  to  eternal  life  was  made 
by  divine  decree  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
and  Arminians  hold  that  the  soul's  decision  or  choice 
cannot  be  so  made  as  to  be  secure  from  reversal  or 
failure  until  after  death — possibly  not  then. 

The  second  proposition  Cumberland  Presbyterians 
think  is  contradicted  by  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  elec- 


472  PRESBYTERIANS. 

tion  and  reprobation,  and  the  third  by  the  Arminian 
doctrine  of  apostasy. 

In  the  matter  of  ministerial  education,  while  clas- 
sical training  was  not  made  an  essential  requirement, 
it  was  earnestly  recommended  when  at  all  practicable, 
and  a  liberal  course  in  English  branches  and  in  the- 
ology was  required.  In  view  of  Christ's  example  in 
selecting  his  apostles,  the  founders  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  shrunk  from  adopting  a  standard 
as  high  and  inflexible  as  that  prescribed  in  the  West- 
minster Confession.  They  believed  that  some  who  be- 
come religious  late  in  life  are  called  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel and  that  the  strict  Presbyterian  rule  would  prevent 
these  from  obeying  God's  call.  They  held,  also,  that  in 
the  ministry,  as  well  as  in  the  professions  of  law  and 
medicine,  some  who  never  enjoyed  the  highest  schol- 
astic training  become  eminently  useful.  In  brief,  it  was 
deemed  right,  rather  than  allow  wide  districts  to  remain 
entirely  destitute  of  the  gospel,  to  send  forth  sound 
teachers  who  loved  souls  and  knew  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, even  though  they  did  not  know  Latin  and  Greek. 
But  the  fathers  labored  to  secure  for  ministerial  candi- 
dates the  most  thorough  preparation  possible.  Schools 
and  academies  were  established  and  rigid  examinations 
in  literature,  science  and  theology  were  conducted  at 
the  Presbyterial  meetings.  The  truth  is  that,  though 
this  Church  had  its  origin  among  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  the  West  far  from  literary  centers,  its  ministers  and 
people  have  ever  been  the  promoters  of  education.  In 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Ohio  and  Arkansas,  as  well 
as  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  they  were  pioneers  in 
establishing  schools.  Wherever  the  missionaries  went, 
schools  and  academies  sprang  up. 


RICHARD    BEARD,    D.  D. 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  473 

In  1826  the  Synod  established  a  college  for  the  whok 
Church,  at  Princeton,  Ky.  It  was  named  Cum- 
berland College.  In  1842  the  central  educational 
institution  of  the  Church  was  removed  to  Lebanon, 
Tenn.,  and  named  Cumberland  University.  This  school, 
before  the  Civil  War,  grew  to  be  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant educational  centers  in  the  Southwest  ;  and 
though  it  suffered  much  during  the  great  struggle, 
losing  its  buildings  and  much  of  its  endowment,  it  has 
in  a  measure  recovered  its  place  and  usefulness.  It  has 
departments  of  literature,  theology,  law  and  engineer- 
ing, and  special  courses  amounting  to  ten  lines  of 
instruction.  The  Church's  theological  seminary  is 
located  here.  Dr.  Richard  Beard,  who  long  filled  the 
chair  of  Systematic  Theology  in  this  school,  left,  be- 
sides other  works,  three  volumes  of  lectures  which  are 
regarded  by  many  as  the  best  elaborate  statement  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church. 

The  other  principal  schools  of  the  denomination  are 
Waynesburg  College,  Pennsylvania ;  Lincoln  Univer- 
sity, Illinois  ;  Trinity  University,  Texas  ;  and  Missouri 
Valley  College,  Missouri. 

The  policy  of  operating  through  central  boards  in  the 
work  of  missions,  ministerial  education,  the  publishing 
of  books  and  periodicals,  church  erection,  and  in  pro- 
viding for  aged  and  disabled  ministers,  is  well  estab- 
lished  in  the  Church.  Through  a  denominational  board 
it  began  to  send  missionaries  to  the  Indians  and  the 
Western  border  as  early  as  1819.  Through  its  present 
Board  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Missions,  located  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  missions  have  been  established  in  Japan 
and  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  the  Indian  Territory  and  in 
numerous  towns  and  cities  in  our  own  country. 


474 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


The  Board  of  Publication  is  located  at  Nashville, 
Term.  Here  a  large  publishing  house  has  recently  been 
erected,  from  which  books  are  issued,  also  a  number  of 
periodicals,  including  a  quarterly  Review,  a  full  series  of 
Sunday-school  papers,  and  the  central  weekly  organ,  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian.  At  other  points,  also,  weekly 
papers  are  published  in  the  interest  of  the  Church. 

The  Board  of  Education  and  the  Board  of  Minis- 
terial Relief  are,  in  their  respective  departments,  doing 
excellent  work.  The  object  of  the  latter  is  to  provide 
for  the  wants  of  aged  and  disabled  ministers  and  their 
widows  and  orphans.  To  aid  in  carrying  out  this  pur- 
pose, a  home,  known  as  "  The  Thornton  Home,"  has 
been  established  near  Evansville,  Ind. 


THORNTON    HOME,    EVANSVILLE,    IND. 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  475 

The  work  of  the  Board  of  Education  is  to  aid  young 
men  who  are  pursuing-  their  studies  preparatory  to 
entering  the  ministry. 

A  Women's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  organized 
in  1880,  has  sent  a  number  of  missionaries  to  Japan, 
besides  contributing  largely  to  the  work  in  Mexico  and 
among  the  Indians. 

Though  this  Church  embraced  in  its  boundaries  large 
portions  of  the  two  sections  of  our  country  which  were 
arrayed  against  each  other  in  the  Civil  War,  it  remained 
undivided.  Whatever  differences  of  opinion  had  arisen 
in  connection  with  this  conflict,  or  about  the  questions 
which  led  to  it,  were  amicably  settled  when  the  war 
ended,  and  were  loner  aoo  buried  as  dead  issues.  Sec- 
tional  lines  and  distinctions  are  blotted  out  and  a  spirit 
of  fraternity  and  unity  in  Christian  work  prevails 
throughout  the  denomination. 

In  the  years  since  the  war  the  Church  has  enjoyed  a 
new  era  of  growth.  In  1892  it  numbered  about  170,- 
000  communicants.  During  the  year  ending  May,  189 1, 
there  were  17,000  accessions,  and  the  total  contributions 
were  $705,500.  It  then  had  122  Presbyteries,  2844 
congregations,  1639  ministers,  236  licentiates,  and  256 
candidates  for  the  ministry. 

Before  the  war  there  were  about  20,000  colored  Cum- 
berland Presbyterians.  They  belonged  to  the  same 
congregations  of  which  white  people  were  members  and 
sat  under  the  ministry  of  the  same  pastors,  though  they 
had  preachers  of  their  own  race  and  often  held  separate 
meetings.  This  order  of  things  broke  down  during  the 
war,  and  in  1869  the  colored  people  asked  and  received 
the  consent  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  organiza- 
tion   of   a   separate  African  Cumberland  Presbyterian 


476 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


Church.  This  church  has  its  own  General  Assembly, 
and  in  1891  reported  about  15,000  communicants.  It 
then  had  22  Presbyteries,  5  Synods,  200  ordained  minis- 
ters, 175  licentiates 
and  1 90  candidates. 
Though  Cum- 
berland Presbyte- 
rians adhere  with 
great  firmness  to 
their  doctrinal 
views  and  denomi- 
national usages, 
yet  they  have  ever 
showed  a  liberal 
spirit  of  fraternity 
toward  otherChris- 
tian  communions, 
and  have  favored 
the  utmost  prac- 
ticable union  a- 
mong  the  denomi- 
nations. It  was 
this  spirit  that  led 
this  church  to  seek 
admission  to  the 
World's  Presby- 
terian Alliance  and  prompted  the  more  recent  action 
by  which  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  missionaries 
in  Japan  united  with  other  Presbyterians  in  forming 
one  Japanese  Presbyterian  Church.  Denominational- 
ism  is  regarded  as  a  means,  rather  than  an  end  ;  and 
were  the  obnoxious  features  of  the  Presbyterian  creed 
removed,  Cumberland  Presbyterians  would  not  be  found 


C.    P.    PUBLISHING    HOUSE,    NASHVILLE,    TENN. 


THE   CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  477 

averse   to   counsels  looking  to  the  reunion  of  the  dif- 
erent  members  of  the  Presbyterian  family. 

From  the  first  this  Church  has  grown,  not  by  acces- 
sions from  other  Churches,  but  by  additions  from  the 
outside,  by  making  converts  rather  than  making  pros- 
elytes. Two  of  the  three  ministers  who  organized  the 
first  Presbytery  were  brought  into  the  ministry  as  the 
result  of  the  revival,  and  but  three  of  those  who  formed 
Cumberland  Synod  in  1813  had  entered  the  ministry 
before  the  great  revival  began.  The  new  Church  was 
not  the  result  of  a  schism  so  much  as  the  growth  of  a 
new  body.  The  great  aim  of  the  revival  preachers  was 
to  win  souls  to  Christ,  not  to  build  up  congregations  ; 
and  thousands  of  the  converts  have  joined  other  com- 
munions. Instead,  therefore,  of  being  the  result  or 
cause  of  schism  or  division,  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rian Church  has,  throughout  its  history,  been  a  helper 
to  other  Christian  communions.  Its  influence  in  culti- 
vating- interdenominational  friendliness  and  in  softening 
doctrinal  asperities  has  also  been  most  salutary.  It  has 
done  its  share  in  moderating  the  severities  of  Calvin- 
ism, and  in  creating-  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  revising  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  In  recent  years  it 
has  extended  its  work  in  many  new  fields.  Especially 
marked  has  been  its  progress  in  establishing  congrega- 
tions and  building  houses  of  worship  in  cities  and  large 
towns.  Substantial  progress  has  been  made  also  in  the 
endowment  of  schools,  in  the  publishing  interest,  and 
in  missionary  work.  The  denomination  seems  to  be 
entering  upon  a  new  era  of  activity,  and  to  have  before 
it  an  enlarorinnr  field  and  a  growing:  mission  of  useful- 
ness. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 
By   Rev.    MOSES  D.   HOGE,    D.  D. 

THE  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States, 
popularly  known  as  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,  dates  its  organic  existence  from  the  4th  of 
December,  1861,  when  in  the  city  of  Augusta,  Georgia, 
"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  Confederate  States  of  America "  was  consti- 
tuted. 

It  would  not,  however,  be  consistent  with  its  charac- 
teristic principles,  nor  true  to  the  facts  of  history,  to  fix 
such  day  as  the  beginning  of  this  Church.  That  date 
chronicles  merely  the  integration  into  one  body  of 
those  scattered  Presbyteries,  separated  from  the  mother 
Church,  the  cause  of  whose  independence  will  be  here- 
inafter related.  Their  glorious  heritage,  and  no  less 
glorious  tenets,  linked  them  with  historic  Presbyterian- 
ism.  The  golden  chain  of  their  story  led  back  through 
two  centuries  of  struggle  and  progress  in  this  mighty 
Republic,  whose  unexampled  growth  and  marvelous 
development  have  been  even  eclipsed  by  the  advance- 
ment of  that  Church,  which  has  ev^er  proven  an  en- 
lightenment of  its  citizens  and  thus  a  bulwark  of  its 
liberties.  Bound  by  ties  of  blood  to  the  sturdy  peo- 
ples of  Northern  Ireland  and  rugged  Scotland,  enriched 
by  noblest  types  from  Holland,  France  and  Switzerland, 

473 


JAMES   H.  THORNWELL,  D.  D. 


THE   SOUTHERN   PRESBYTERTAX   CHURCH.  479 

they  trace  the  gleaming  lineage  of  their  principles  far 
back  through  ages  of  darkness  and  trial,  illumined  by 
the  saintly  zeal  and  purity  of  Columba  and  Waldo,  and 
the  consecrated  ability  and  sacred  learning  of  Calvin 
and  Augustine,  to  that  Scriptural  Presbyterianism  that 
finds  its  ablest  and  fullest  exposition  in  the  writings  of 
Paul. 

The  story  of  the  planting  of  Presbyterianism  in  this 
land,  and  of  its  development,  has  already  been  told  in 
these  pages.  As  early  as  1642,  according  to  Rev. 
Dr.  Briggs,  in  his  essay  on  "  Earliest  American  Presby- 
terianism," Rev.  Francis  Doughty,  an  English  Presby- 
terian minister,  preached  in  Long  Island,  and  subse- 
quently labored  in  Eastern  Virginia  and  Maryland. 
In  1683  Rev.  Francis  Makemie,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
came  from  Ulster,  and  preached  in  Eastern  Virginia 
and  Maryland.  Southern  Presbyterians  have  always 
regarded  Makemie  as  the  first  Presbyterian  minister 
who  preached  in  America,  there  being  no  traditions  or 
memorials  among  them  of  Mr.  Doughty.  At  a  still 
earlier  date,  however,  under  the  auspices  of  Admiral 
Coligni,  French  Huguenots  emigrated,  settling  in  the 
Carolinas  and  Florida.  These  were  the  first  Presby- 
terians who  came  to  this  country,  coming  before  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Though 
Virginia  was  settled  largely  by  cavaliers,  there  were  some 
English  Presbyterians  among  them,  and  there  were  also 
some  settlements  by  Huguenots  on  the  James  River. 
The  newer  and  more  inviting  lands  of  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  and  of  Piedmont,  North  Carolina,  attracted  a 
steady  stream  of  population  from  the  heart  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, filled  with  Scotch-Irish — a  staunch  and  stalwart 
stock.      And  just  before  the  Revolution,  on   the  defeat 


480  PRESBYTERIANS. 

of  Charles  at  Culloden,  numbers  of  his  adherents  from 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland  settled  in  Eastern  Carolina, 
chiefly  on  the  waters  of  Cape  Fear  River  and  its  tribu- 
taries. From  these  older  States,  the  broad,  inviting 
lands  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
and  other  States  in  the  South  and  Northwest,  drew  the 
basis  of  their  population.  So  that  throughout  the 
South  and  West,  names  of  churches,  especially  in  rural 
communities,  and  in  one  instance  of  a  Presbytery,  are 
transferred  from  Eastern  Synods. 

The  happy  blending  of  these  strains  of  Presbyterians 
under  the  favoring  conditions  of  our  Southern  life 
made  a  body  of  Christians  singularly  homogeneous, 
conservative,  truth-loving  and  ardently  devoted  to  right 
and  liberty.  The  courtly  and  cultivated  Huguenots, 
the  stern  and  simple-hearted  Highlander,  the  strong, 
earnest,  faithful  Scotch-Irish,  the  conscientious  Puritan, 
and  the  frank,  honest  Teuton,  contributed  of  the  wealth 
of  their  character,  and  the  glory  of  their  history. 
Devotion  to  principle  was  the  guiding  star  of  ac- 
tion. It  is  not  surprising,  then,  to  know  from  secu- 
lar history  that  such  people  were  devoted  to  liberty  and 
to  country,  that  to  Presbyterians  was  due  that  remarka- 
ble action  known  as  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of 
Independence,  said  to  have  antedated  by  more  than  a 
year  the  National  Declaration  ;  and  that  it  was  of  such 
brave  and  hardy  men  as  inhabited  the  Valley  of  Virginia 
that  Washington  declared,  that  if  all  his  plans  became 
overturned  and  but  a  single  standard  left,  he  would  plant 
it  upon  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  making  that  his  Thermopylae 
would  rally  around  him  the  patriots  of  the  valley,  and 
there  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  republic.  Han- 
over Presbytery,  in  Eastern  Virginia,  in  its  petition  to 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  481 

the  first  Assembly  of  Virginia,  after  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  as  a  State,  in  the  fall  of  1776,  made  the 
first  and  fullest  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  religious 
liberty,  made  by  any  ecclesiastical  body  in  America. 
Nor  is  it  surprising  that  such  people  were  no  less  lovers 
of  truth  than  of  liberty,  and  sought  to  hold  aloft  the  light. 
By  every  church  was  erected  an  academy,  and  "pas- 
tors" were  often  also  "  teachers."  In  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  on  the  soil  of  liberty-loving  Mecklenburg, 
Queen's  Museum  was  founded  for  the  dissemination  of 
a  higher  learning  than  could  be  obtained  at  parochial 
schools,  but  which,  though  the  colonial  government  con- 
sented to  charter  it  in  1  77 1 ,  had  its  charter  repealed  by 
proclamation  of  George  III.  for  no  reason  whatever, 
unless  the  founders  and  abettors  were  Whigs  in  poli- 
tics and  Presbyterians  in  religion.  ("  Foote's  Sketches  of 
North  Carolina,"  p.  513.)  The  character  of  the-people 
is  seen  when  the  independent  commonwealth  of  North 
Carolina  chartered  the  institution  in  1777  as  Liberty 
Hall.  Before  the  Revolution  likewise,  among  the  re- 
fined, cultivated  and  goodly  people  of  South-side  Vir- 
ginia, under  a  title  that  revealed  the  ardent  love  of  its 
friends  for  freedom  and  rectitude,  bearing  the  name  of 
two  of  the  most  pure  and  noble  patriots  England  or  the 
world  has  known,  Hampden-Sidney  was  established, 
a  college  whose  light  and  influence  have  been  unbroken 
and  undimmed  for  more  than  a  century.  So,  too, 
the  sturdy  Presbyterians  of  the  Valley,  feeling  their 
need  of  an  institution  for  the  education  of  youth, 
planted  as  an  academical  school  that  which,  under 
different  names  and  at  different  places,  grew  under 
the  wise  and  liberal  and  patriotic  control  of  that 
eminent  educator,   Rev.  William  Graham,  to  Washing- 


482 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


ton   College,  and  is  now    known    as   Washington    and 
Lee  University. 

Of  such  people  were  Southern  Presbyterians.  The 
conditions  of  their  life,  largely  in  rural  communities, 
"  far  from  the  maddening  crowd,"  fostered  their  homo- 


MEMORIAL    HALL,    HAMPDEN-SIDNEY    COLLEGE,    HAMPDEN-SIDNEY,    VA. 


geneity  and  conservatism.  The  standards  of  West- 
minster were  heartily  accepted,  as  amended  by  the 
eradication  of  all  Erastianism  and  entangling-  alliances 
of  Church  and  state,  as  the  teaching  of  God's  word, 
and  to  them  they  clung  with  enthusiastic  devotion.  In 
all  questions  of  doctrine  or  order  there  must  be  a  "  Thus 
saith    the    Lord,"   or  a  good   and   necessary  inference 


THE   SOUTHERN   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  483 

from  Scripture.  The  ties  of  family  were  multiplied 
and  strong,  love  for  native  land  was  ardent,  and  de- 
votion to  the  Church  of  their  fathers  intense.  The 
prosperity  of  the  Union,  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
great  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  they  formed  no 
unimportant  part,  were  very  dear  to  their  hearts. 

Why,  then,  the  separation  from  that  Church  in  1861  ? 
And  is  the  Church  guilty  of  schism  in  maintaining  its 
distinct  organization  ?  Let  us  look  at  these  questions 
which  confront  the  student  of  history  and  the  lover  of 
truth,  not  with  the  eye  of  the  partisan  advocate,  but  of 
a  conscientious  and  impartial  annalist. 

In  May,  1861,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  (Old 
School)  which  met  in  Philadelphia,  adopted  a  paper  in 
reference  to  the  Civil  War,  then  impending,  known  as  the 
Spring  Resolutions,  Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  of  the 
Brick  Church,  New  York,  being  their  author,  which  un- 
dertook to  decide  for  its  whole  constituency,  North  and 
South,  a  question  upon  which  the  most  eminent  states- 
men had  been  divided  in  opinion  from  the  time  of  the 
formation  of  the  Constitution,  viz  :  whether  the  ulti- 
mate sovereignty,  the  jus  sumnti  imperii,  resided  in 
the  people  as  a  mass,  or  in  the  people  as  they  were 
originally  formed  into  colonies  and  afterward  into 
States. 

Presbyterians  in  the  South  believed  that  this  deliver- 
ance, whether  true  or  otherwise,  was  one  which  the 
Church  was  not  authorized  to  make,  and  that,  in  so 
doing,  she  had  transcended  her  sphere  and  usurped  the 
duties  of  the  state.  Their  views  upon  this  subject 
found  expression  in  a  quarter  which  relieves  them  of  all 
suspicion  of  coming  from  an  interested  party.     A  pro- 


484  PRESBYTERIANS. 

test  against  this  action  was  presented  by  the  venerable 
Charles  Hodge,  D.  D.,  of  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  fifty-seven  others  who  were  members  of 
that  Assembly. 

In  this  protest  it  was  asserted,  "that  the  paper 
adopted  by  the  Assembly  does  decide  the  political  ques- 
tion just  stated,  in  our  judgment,  is  undeniable.  It 
not  only  asserts  the  loyalty  of  this  body  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union,  but  it  promises  in  the  name  of 
all  the  churches  and  ministers  whom  it  represents,  to 
do  all  that  in  them  lies  to  strengthen,  uphold  and  en- 
courage the  Federal  Government.  It  is,  however,  a 
notorious  fact  that  many  of  our  ministers  and  members 
conscientiously  believe  that  the  allegiance  of  the  citi- 
zens of  this  country  is  primarily  due  to  the  States 
to  which  they  respectively  belong,  and  that,  therefore, 
whenever  any  State  renounces  its  connection  with  the 
United  States,  and  its  allegiance  to  the  Constitution, 
the  citizens  of  that  State  are  bound  by  the  laws  of  God 
to  continue  loyal  to  their  State,  and  obedient  to  its 
laws.  The  paper  adopted  virtually  declares,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  allegiance  of  the  citizen  is  due  to 
the  United  States,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws 
of  the  several  States  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
The  General  Assembly  in  thus  deciding  a  political 
question,  and  in  making  that  decision  practically  a  con- 
dition of  Church  membership,  has,  in  our  judgment, 
violated  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  and  usurped 
the  prerogative  of  its  Divine  Master." 

Presbyterians  in  the  South,  coinciding  in  this  view  of 
the  case,  concluded  that  a  separation  from  the  General 
Assembly  aforesaid  was  imperatively  demanded,  not  in 
the  spirit  of  schism,  but  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  for 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  485 

the   protection    of    the  liberty  with    which   Christ  had 
made  them  free. 

Accordingly,  ninety-three  ministers  and  ruling  elders, 
representing  forty-seven  Presbyteries,  duly  commis- 
sioned for  that  purpose,  met  in  the  city  of  Augusta, 
Ga.,  ont  he  4th  of  December,  1861,  and  integrated 
in  one  body.  The  first  act  after  the  organization 
of  that  memorable  Assembly  was  to  designate  a  name 
for  the  now  separated  Church,  and  to  declare  its  form 
and  belief.  The  following  resolutions  were  accord- 
ingly adopted : 

1.  That  the  style  and  title  of  this  Church  shall  be  : 
The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  of 

America. 

2.  That  this  Assembly  declare,  in  conformity  with  the 
unanimous  decision  of  our  Presbyteries,  that  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms, 
the  Form  of  Government,  the  Book  of  Discipline,  and 
the  Directory  for  Worship,  which  together  make  up 
the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  are  the  Constitution  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  only  substituting  the  term  "  Confederate 
States"   for  "United  States." 

Of  that  memorable  and  historic  Assembly  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  say  something  more.  After  the  adoption 
of  the  Spring  Resolutions  in  May,  1861,  Presbytery 
after  Presbytery  in  the  Southern  States,  feeling  that  by 
that  act  they  had  been  exscinded,  withdrew  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Assembly  that  had  transcended  its 
sphere  and  decided  political  questions.  A  conference 
of  ministers  and  elders  was  held  in  Atlanta,  August 
15-17,  1 86 1,  and  in  response  to  a    call  thus  issued  the 


486  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Assembly  met.  To  quote  from  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  R. 
Wilson  in  his  memorial  address,  delivered  at  the  quar- 
ter-centennial of  the  organization  of  the  Southern 
Assembly  :  "It  was  in  response  to  a  request  on  the 
part  of  this  exceptional  body  of  trusted  brethren  that 
all  the  Presbyteries  addressed — not  one  excepted — 
were  here,  not  many  months  afterward,  regularly  repre- 
sented in  accordance  with  the  ancient  forms,  and  in 
every  instance  by  a  delegation  of  ministers,  in  whose 
number  there  was  not  a  single  blank,  as  also,  save  in 
the  case  of  a  few  far-distant  constituencies,  by  a  full 
commission  of  ruling;  elders,  making-  altogether  an 
authorized  membership  of  ninety-three,  and  possessed, 
as  a  whole,  it  soon  became  apparent,  of  an  unusually 
high  average  of  Christian  character  and  mental  ability, 
whilst  some  of  them,  conspicuous  above  the  many, 
would  have  adorned  the  Church  in  any  age  or  country." 

Of  the  members  of  that  Assembly  there  are  many 
whose  names  the  Church  will  not  willingly  "  let  die." 
Of  these  let  mention  be  made  of  one,  whose  profound 
ability  constitutes  him  a  leader  of  thought  in  the  world, 
Rev.  Dr.  James  H.  Thornwell,  the  eminent  theologian 
and  scholar.  To  him  as  chairman  of  the  committee 
was  entrusted  the  preparation  of  the  "address  to  all 
the  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ  throughout  Earth,"  setting 
forth  the  reasons  for  separate  organic  existence ; — a 
paper  as  conciliatory  and  calm  as  it  is  logical,  clear  and 
convincing. 

With  reference  to  the  action  of  the  Southern  Presby- 
terian Church  then,  and  its  present  maintenance  of  its 
integrity  and  distinct  organism,  the  following  eloquent 
words  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans, 
spoken    in   May,    1886%  at   the   "Quarter-centennial  of 


487 


488  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  organization  of  the  Southern  Assembly,"  in  his  ad- 
mirable address,  "  The  Church  a  Spiritual  Kingdom," 
pp.  53-55,  voice  the  sentiments  of  Southern  Presby- 
terians as  to  the  facts-and  the  points  in  issue  : 

"The  years  which  have  passed  since  then  have 
cooled  every  feeling  of  resentment  in  our  bosoms  ;  and 
we  can  look  with  the  eye  of  charity  upon  the  error  of 
those  whom  we  have  never  ceased  to  regard  as  our 
brethren  in  the  Lord.  We  do  not  undertake  to  say 
that,  with  our  positions  reversed  and  acting  under  their 
convictions,  we  might  not  have  been  guilty  of  the  same 
fault.  Are  we  not  all  led  by  a  divine  hand  into  posi- 
tions which  give  us  wider  and  clearer  views  of  truth  ? 
However  this  may  be,  the  simple  fact  remains  that  we 
were  separated  from  the  Church  of  our  fathers  upon 
a  strictly  political  issue,  which  a  spiritual  court  had 
no  authority,  either  human  or  divine,  to  adjudicate. 
Whether  we  ourselves  fully  comprehended  or  not  the 
significance  of  our  withdrawal,  the  logic  of  the  case 
constituted  us  the  assertors  and  guardians  of  this  vital 
truth,  the  non-secular  and  non-political  character  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  whether  we  will  or  no, 
we  must  preach  to  the  world  this  '  Gospel  of  the  King- 
dom.' I  desire  to  emphasize  the  statement  that,  up  to 
the  passage  of  the  'Spring  Resolutions,' in  May,  1861, 
a  division  of  the  Church  had  not  been  suggested,  per- 
haps had  not  entered  the  thought  of  any,  except  as  a 
possible  and  painful  necessity.  Some  of  us  cherished 
fondly  the  hope  that  the  bonds  of  ecclesiastical  fellow- 
ship might  be  able  to  bear  the  strain  even  of  a  great 
civil  war.  It  would  have  been  a  sublime  spectacle,  if 
the  Church  could  have  preserved  her  visible  unity 
amidst    the  convulsions    which   shook    a   continent — a 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  489 

spiritual  kingdom  rising  unconsumed  out  of  the  flames 
of  a  gigantic  war,  like  the  bush  burning  with  fire  at 
Mount  Horeb,  to  proclaim  the  power  of  divine  grace 
over  the  passions  of  men.  The  historic  basis,  there- 
fore, upon  which  stands  this  clear  church  of  ours, 
the  special  feature  by  which  she  is  distinguished  from 
others,  is  this  testimony  for  Christ's  kingdom,  as  a  free, 
spiritual  commonwealth,  separate  from  civil  govern- 
ment, under  whatever  form  administered  upon  earth. 

"  But  if  the  entire  American  Church  affirms  this 
principle,  and  if  in  the  other  portions  of  the  Presby- 
terian body  it  be  affirmed  in  identical  terms  with  our 
own,  wherein  is  our  testimony  peculiar  ?  With  refer- 
ence to  the  latter,  simply  in  this  :  that  whilst  the  spirit- 
uality of  Christ's  kingdom  is  admitted  in  theory,  it  has 
been  contravened  in  practice,  and  that  solely  upon  this 
issue  we  were  driven  from  their  communion.  If  it  be 
alleged  that  this  deviation  from  the  Constitution  was 
but  a  temporary  departure,  under  stress  of  circum- 
stances, and  during  a  period  of  intense  excitement,  it 
is  competent  to  inquire  whether,  during  the  period  of 
twenty-five  years  which  have  elapsed,  any  official  action 
has  been  taken  to  repair  the  breach.  So  far  from  it, 
those  political  deliverances  are  to  this  day  treasured  as 
most  precious  testimonies,  which  must  not  be  impaired 
by  any  whispered  suspicion  of  their  impropriety.  Even 
in  the  treaty  of  amity  between  themselves  and  us,  the 
tenderest  solicitude  was  shown  to  protect  them  from 
being  supposed  to  be  withdrawn.  The  political  issue, 
then,  is  precisely  the  same  to-day  as  it  was  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago.  If  in  the  past  the  letter  of  the  Con- 
stitution was  too  frail  a  barrier  to  protect  the  Church 
against  the   swelling   tide  of  political    enthusiasm,  how 


490  PRESBYTERIANS. 

much  less  will  it  restrain  in  the  future,  when  undermined 
by  this  fatal  precedent  ?  .   .   .   . 

"  God  is  our  witness  that  nothing  could  yield  us  such 
joy  as  to  be  henceforth  discharged  from  the  necessity 
of  bearing  special  testimony  to  the  non-secular  char- 
acter of  the  Christian  Church.  If  this  principle  could 
be  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  men  with  the  sacred  confi- 
dence of  former  years,  louder  hallelujahs  would  not 
be  heard  than  in  this  Southern  Church — ordained 
through  her  very  existence  to  bear  silent  and  constant 
testimony  for  the  crown  rights  of  our  Lord  and  Re- 
deemer." 

This,  then,  is  the  meaning  of  its  continued  distinct 
organization.  And  the  distinctive  features  of  this  Pres- 
byterian Church  may  be  briefly  stated  : 

Holding,  in  common  with  other  branches  of  the  Pres- 
byterian family,  the  Westminster  Confession  and  Cate- 
chisms, the  Southern  Church  lays  special  emphasis  on 
the  following  points  : 

i.  A  Faithful  Adherence  to  the  Constitution. — While 
allowing  a  just  liberty  of  explanation,  according  to  the 
well  known  traditions  of  Presbyterian  history,  latitu- 
dinarianism  is  carefully  excluded. 

2.  The  Spirituality  of  the  Church. — "  Synods  and 
Councils  are  to  handle  nothing  but  what  is  ecclesias- 
tical." 

3.  Ecclesiastical  Power. — "  While  the  source  of  all 
power,  in  all  the  courts  alike,  is  Jesus,  who  rules  in 
them  and  through  them,  yet  the  Constitution,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  word  of  God,  assigns  the  courts  re- 
spectively their  several  powers  and  duties,  and  pre- 
scribes the  mode  in  which  these  powers  are  to  be 
exercised.     Therefore  the  claim  by  any  court  to  exer- 


THE   SOUTHERN   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  49I 

cise  powers  not  assigned  to  it  is  a  breach  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Covenant  between  the  several  parties  there- 
to. 

Hence  it  is  that  the  Church  has  never  entrusted  its 
great  benevolent  operations  either  to  voluntaryism  on 
the  one  hand,  or  to  vast  incorporated  Boards  on  the 
other — entities  existing  in  quasi  independence — but  to 
executive  committees  of  which  their  secretaries  and 
the  other  members  are  all  elected  annually  by  the  As- 
sembly, are  directly  responsible  to  it,  and  act  as  execu- 
tive agents  under  its  instructions. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  name  of  the  Church  was 
changed  to  "  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States." 

In  1859  tne  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  (New  School) 
took  action  on  the  state  of  the  country,  and  particularly 
on  the  question  of  domestic  servitude,  which  consti- 
tuted in  the  judgment  of  many,  especially  in  the 
Southern  States,  a  political  deliverance  transcending 
the  sphere  of  the  Church,  violative  of  its  own  Constitu- 
tion, contravening  the  personal  political  rights  of  min- 
isters and  members,  and  imposing  new  and  unscriptural 
terms  of  church  membership.  Presbyteries,  ministers, 
and  churches  withdrawing  from  the  jurisdiction  of  that 
General  Assembly,  and  thus  by  separation  testifying 
against  such  action,  constituted  in  i860  "The  United 
Synod  of  the  South."  At  the  General  Assembly  of 
"The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  of 
America"  held  in  Columbia  in  1863,  a  committee,  of 
which  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Dabney  was  chairman,  was  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  a  similar  committee  on  the  part 
of  the  United  Synod,  looking  to  organic  union.     After 


492 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


careful  conference  as  to  doctrinal  views,  in  1863,  and 
after  full  deliberation  by  the  highest  courts  of  the 
two  Churches  on  the  report  of  the  committee,  in  1864 
an  organic  union  was  formed  between  the  General  As- 
sembly and  the  United   Synod,  by  which   an   accession 


CENTRAL    UNIVERSITY,    RICHMOND,    KY. 

of  about  120  ministers,  190  churches,  and  12,000  com- 
municants was  received. 

In  like  manner,  protesting-  against  the  action  of 
church  courts  on  matters  that  in  their  judgment  seemed 
without  their  jurisdiction,  the  Presbytery  of  Patapsco, 
of  the  Synod  of  Baltimore,  consisting  of  6  ministers, 
3  churches,  and  576  communicants,  in  1867  united  with 
the  Southern  Church. 

The  story  of  the  struggles  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri  on  the  same  great 
issues   is  a  thrilling    one       Protesting    year   after  year 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  493 

against  the  political  deliverances  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly (Northern),  in  1865  a  paper  was  prepared,  signed 
by  119  ministers  and  elders,  adopted  formally  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  styled  "  Declaration  and  tes- 
timony against  the  erroneous  and  heretical  doctrines 
and  practices  which  have  obtained  and  been  propagated 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  during 
the  last  five  years  ( 1 86 1  to  1865,  inclusive)."  The  ac- 
tion of  the  General  Assembly,  1 866,  in  St.  Louis,  with  ref- 
erence to  this  paper,  and  to  the  Commissioners  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisville,  caused  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
to  separate  from  the  General  Assembly  and  remain  in 
an  independent  attitude  until  1869,  when  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  including  75  ministers,  137  churches,  and 
13,540  communicants,  was  received  into  the  Southern 
Assembly.  In  like  manner,  in  1874,  the  Synod  of 
Missouri,  which  had  also  separated  from  the  Northern 
Assembly,  and  borne  through  protest  and  separation 
its  faithful  testimony  for  the  spirituality  of  the  Church, 
its  non-secular  and  non-political  character,  was  received 
into  the  Southern  Assembly,  including  67  ministers, 
141  churches,  and  8000  communicants. 

Born  amid  the  throes  of  war,  circumscribed  in  its 
territorial  area  because  of  its  genesis,  and  finding  its 
habitation  in  a  part  of  the  country  desolated  and  devas- 
tated by  trampling  armies,  impoverished  in  its  re- 
sources, and  with  homes  everywhere  still  saddened  be- 
cause of  the  unreturning  dead,  the  Southern  Presbyte- 
rian Church  has  grown  with  such  marvelous  rapidity 
as  to  excite  the  gratitude,  as  well  as  admiration,  of  all 
interested  in  her  history.  At  its  first  Assembly  the 
foundations  were  laid  deep  and  broad  for  the  mainten- 
ance   and    expansion   of   its  work.      At  once  the    four 


494  PRESBYTERIANS. 

great  divisions  of  denominational  enterprise  were  un- 
dertaken, manned,  and  equipped,  notwithstanding  the 
intense  strain  of  a  vast  civil  war,  and  committees  were 
appointed  of  Foreign  Missions,  Home  Missions,  Edu- 
cation and  Publication.  These  have  been  carried  on 
with  a  diligence  and  success  as  gratifying  as  it  is  en- 
couraging. 

At  the  time  of  organization,  in  1861,  the  General 
Assembly  included  10  Synods,  47  Presbyteries,  about 
700  ministers,  1000  churches,  and  75,000  communi- 
cants, about  10,000  of  whom  were  of  the  African  race. 
According  to  the  last  official  report  (published  in  July, 
1891)  it  includes  13  Synods,  71  Presbyteries,  1186 
ministers,  2453  churches,  and  174,065  communicants. 
In  other  words,  while  the  population  of  the  United 
States  has  increased  in  thirty  years  60  per  cent.,  the 
Southern  Church  has  grown  nearly  133  per  cent.,  or 
more  than  twice  as  much. 

The  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  is  administered  by 
an  Executive  Committee,  with  headquarters  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.  The  Rev.  M.  H.  Houston,  D.  D.,  is  sec- 
retary and  the  Rev.  D.  C.  Rankin  is  assistant  secre- 
tary. Missions  are  established  and  carried  on  with 
more  or  less  encouragement  in  Brazil,  China,  Turkey, 
Italy,  Mexico,  Japan,  Africa  and  Cuba,  and  from  many 
parts  of  this  broad  field  there  are  tokens  of  divine 
favor,  and  calls  for  increased  endeavor.  It  has  just 
been  determined  to  establish  a  new  Mission  in  Korea, 
for  which  men  and  means  are  already  provided.  The 
force  in  the  field,  not  counting  native  ordained  minis- 
ters or  native  helpers  variously  employed,  is  one  hun- 
dred. The  receipts  for  this  cause  aggregated  for  the 
last  fiscal  year  (189 1 )  nearly   $113,000,   which   exceeds 


496  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  receipts  of  any  previous  year  by  more  than  $5300, 
and  shows  an  increase  in  contributions  from  churches 
and  Sabbath  schools,  etc.,  of  over  $15,000  over  the  pre- 
vious year.  The  work  cannot  be  estimated,  however, 
by  numbers  employed  or  amounts  given.  The  number 
of  additions  to  the  Church  has  been  most  encouraging, 
especially  in  Brazil,  Mexico  and  Japan.  The  influence 
of  our  schools  and  colleges  in  heathen  lands  is  whole- 
some and  widening.  The  missionary  zeal  of  the  Church 
at  home  has  been  vastly  augmented. 

The  Committee  of  Home  Missions  has  its  seat  in 
Atlanta,  Ga.  The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  N.  Craig  is  secretary. 
This  field  is  of  vast  extent,  and  becoming  more  im- 
portant every  day  because  of  the  steadily  rising  tide 
of  immigration  from  Europe  and  the  Northern  States. 
Contributions  to  Home  Missions  are  distributed  among 
the  following  district  funds  :  Sustentation,  for  aiding 
feeble  churches  in  the  support  of  ministers  ;  Church 
Erection,  for  assistance  in  building  edifices  for  worship; 
Evangelistic  Work,  including  Missions  among  the  Indi- 
ans, for  supplying  new  and  unoccupied  fields  with  evan- 
gelists and  sustaining  missionaries  to  the  Indians  ;  In- 
valid Fund,  for  help  to  disabled  ministers,  and  widows 
and  orphans  of  deceased  ministers  ;  Colored  Evangeli- 
zation, including  the  support  of  Tuskaloosa  Institute,  a 
training  school  for  colored  ministers,  and  aid  to  colored 
ministers  preaching  to  their  race.  From  this  enumera- 
tion it  will  be  seen  how  broad  and  pressingly  important 
is  this  department  of  the  Church's  benevolent  opera- 
tions. This  agency  has  not  only  strengthened  many 
weak  churches,  but  has  aided  in  the  organization  of 
others  in  destitute  places,  and  has  been  one  of  the 
most  efficient  instrumentalities   in    advancing  the   pro- 


THE   SOUTHERN   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  497 

gress  and  prosperity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
South.  The  total  receipts  for  all  departments  of  Home 
Mission  work,  as  last  reported,  amounted  to  more  than 
$187,000,  an  increase  of  more  than  $40,000  over  what 
was  reported  the  previous  year. 

It  is  proper  here  to  add  that  there  has  been  a  great 
revival  of  Evangelistic  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Synods. 
An  illustrious  and  inspiring  example,  set  by  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky,  reaching  the  neglected  and  destitute  with 
the  Gospel,  and  planting  churches  in  regions  hitherto 
unsupplied,  has  stimulated  others,  and  has  been  followed 
by  the  Synods  of  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Virginia, 
Nashville  and  others,  with  most  gratifying  success. 

Here  too  let  it  be  recorded  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  1 89 1  took  a  long  stride  forward  in  appointing  an 
Executive  Committee  of  Colored  Evangelization,  at 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Phillips,  secretary. 
When  the  Church  was  organized  in  1861,  10,000  col- 
ored communicants  were  connected  with  our  churches, 
and  under  our  pastoral  care.  For  one  reason  or 
another,  preferring  ministers  of  their  own  color,  or  a 
worship  more  demonstrative  than  Presbyterian  Churches 
offered,  or  seduced  by  other  considerations,  almost  all 
of  these  drifted  into  other  organizations.  Recognizing 
that  the  true  way  to  evangelize  a  people  was  through 
ministers  of  their  own,  and  feeling  the  obligation  to 
reach  this  needy  and  dependent  people  with  the  gospel, 
the  General  Assembly,  in  1877,  established  in  Tuska- 
loosa,  Ala.,  an  Institute  for  Training  Colored  Min- 
isters, an  institution  steadily  growing  in  the  confidence 
of  the  Church  and  in  the  appreciation  of  the  colored 
people.  There  are  two  professors  and  twenty-five 
pupils,  and  already  the   Institute  has  prepared  several 


49^  PRESBYTERIANS. 

for  the  gospel  ministry,  preaching-  in  our  own  land,  and 
one  missionary,  a  man  of  great  consecration  and  prom- 
ise, in  the  Congo  Free  State.  There  are  now  five 
Presbyteries  of  colored  ministers  and  churches  in  the 
bounds  of  the  Southern  Assembly,  with  a  working  force 
of  thirty-eight,  thirty-two  of  whom  are  aided  and  sus- 
tained by  the  Colored  Evangelistic  Fund,  and  steps  are 
now  being  taken  to  organize  an  African  Synod,  under 
the  fraternal  and  fostering  care  of  the  Southern 
Church. 

The  interests  of  publication  are  cared  for  by  an  ex- 
ecutive committee,  placed  at  Richmond,  Va.,  with  the 
Rev.  J.  K.  Hazen,  D.  D.,  secretary.  The  management 
of  the  business  has  been  wise,  economical  and  efficient. 
The  business  has  greatly  increased,  and  assets  over  all 
liabilities  exceed  $85,000.  Colportage  and  Sunday- 
school  literature  are  under  the  care  of  this  committee. 
The  receipts  from  all  sources,  according  to  last  report, 
aggregated  nearly  $14,000.  Through  this  committee, 
many  most  valuable  and  important  works  have  been 
given  to  the  public  ;  among  them  the  works  of  the  pro- 
found thinker  and  theologian,  Dr.  Thornwell,  and  the 
collected  discussions  of  that  most  able  professor  of 
theology  and  philosophy,  Dr.  Dabney. 

The  Church  has  ever  maintained  its  ancient  tradi- 
tions in  seeking  an  educated  ministry.  To  aid  those 
desiring  this  sacred  office  there  have  been  contribu- 
tions  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  the  work  of  its  ad- 
ministration is  entrusted  to  an  executive  commit- 
tee, at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  with  Rev.  E.  M.  Richardson, 
D.  D.,  as  secretary.  The  whole  number  of  students 
aided  during  the  last  fiscal  year  (1891)  was  226,  from 
thirteen  Synods.      Receipts  for  this  cause  were  nearly 


WILLIAM    SWAN    PLUMER,    D.  D. 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  (.99 

$21,500,  an  increase  of  more  than  $3500  over  the  con- 
tributions of  the  previous  year. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  lias 
fostered,  according  to  its  means  and  beyond  its  ability 
even,  all  learning  secular  and  religious.  The  influ- 
ence of  Presbyterianism,  and  of  the  Southern  Presbyte- 
rian Church  especially,  is  not  to  be  estimated  by  the 
number  of  institutions  founded  under  distinctively  Pres- 
byterian control.  In  many  .State  institutions,  in  other 
institutions  founded  originally  by  Presbyterians,  but  the 
government  of  which  has  been  generously  shared  with 
others  ;  in  many  private  schools  of  broad  patronage,  high 
scholarship  and  far-reaching  influence,  Presbyterian 
ministers  and  teachers,  able,  learned,  eminent  and  use- 
ful, are  to  be  found.  In  the  enumeration,  therefore, 
here  given,  of  Presbyterian  institutions,  it  will  be  seen, 
in  the  light  of  what  has  been  said,  how  painfully  meager 
and  inadequate  such  a  statement  is,  of  what  is  done 
by  Presbyterians  in  the  cause  of  education  and  en- 
lightenment. 

Of  the  theological  institutions  over  which  the  General 
Assembly  has  supervisory  power,  there  are  two.  Pleas- 
antly situated  in  the  County  of  Prince  Edward,  Va., 
in  the  village  of  Hampden-Sidney,  and  in  sight  of  the 
venerable  1  lampden-Sidney  College,  is  Union  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  under  the  care  of  the  Synods  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina.  This  seminary  was  founded  by 
Hanover  Presbytery  in  [821,  and  its  first  professor 
chosen  by  that  Presbytery  was  the  Rev.  John  H.  Rice, 
D.  D.  To  his  consecrated  learning,  indefatigable  labors 
and  conscientious  zeal,  the  founding  and  establishment  of 
the  seminary  is  largely  due.  With  this  institution  have 
been  connected  in  time  past  the  honored  and  illustrious 


50O 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  501 

names  of  Dr.  George  A.  Baxter,  the  scholarly  Dr.  F. 
S.  Sampson,  and  for  thirty  years  that  able  and  pro- 
found theologian  and  magnetic  teacher,  Dr.  R.  L. 
Dabney,  now  professor  in  the  University  of  Texas. 
The  chairs  were  never  more  ably  filled  than  now,  and 
for  a  score  of  years  the  seminary  has  been  steadily  ad- 
vancing in  power  and  influence.  There  are  six  pro- 
fessors and  seventy-six  students.  I  ts  endowment,  though 
inadequate  to  the  growing  needs  of  such  an  institution, 
yields  an  income  of  $15,000. 

Columbia  Theological  Seminary,  under  the  care  of 
the  Synods  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Alabama, 
is  situated  in  the  charming  capital  of  South  Carolina. 
The  endowment  is  sufficient  for  its  wants,  and  the 
buildings  and  library  are  attractive,  and  the  seminary 
has  exerted  a  great  influence  upon  the  Southern  Church. 
Here  taught  for  many  years,  numbers  flocking  to  sit  at 
his  feet,  the  great  thinker  and  brilliant  polemic,  Dr.  J. 
H.  Thornwell.  Here,  too,  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
Dr.  George  Howe  was  professor,  beloved  and  useful. 
The  eloquent  Dr.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans,  also,  at 
different  times,  filled  a  chair  in  this  seminary.  The 
venerable  Dr.  Plumer  was  also  connected  with  it.  There 
are  now  four  professors,  and  an  assistant  instructor, 
scholarly,  able,  and  commanding  the  confidence  of  the 
Church,  and  the  institution,  which  has  passed  through 
recent  vicissitudes,  has  happily  emerged  from  them, 
with  encouraging  prospects  for  enlarged  prosperity. 
There  were  twenty-five  students  in  attendance  during 
the  last  year. 

Besides  these  institutions  under  the  supervision  of 
the  General  Assembly,  there  is  at  Austin,  Tex., 
commended  and  fostered   by  the  Synod  of  Texas,  the 


502  TRESBYTERIANS. 

Austin  Theological  School,  the  chair  of  Theology 
being  filled  by  Rev.  Dr.  Dabney,  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Texas.  In  connection 
with  the  Southwestern  Presbyterian  University  at 
Clarkesville,  Tenn.,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Synods 
of  the  Southwest,  there  is  a  theological  department 
efficiently  manned  and  accomplishing  a  noble  work. 
Central  University,  at  Richmond,  Ky.,  has  recently 
added  to  its  admirable  faculty  a  professor  of  theology, 
with  the  purpose  of  affording  a  theological,  as  well  as 
academic  education. 

The  following  institutions  must  be  mentioned,  not 
theological,  but  avowedly  Presbyterian  in  their  char- 
acter and  management. 

Hampden-Sidney  College,  Virginia,  was  founded  in 
1 775.  Under  the  eloquent  appeals  and  earnest  labors 
of  Rev.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  Hanover  Presbytery 
having  made  provision  for  an  institution  in  the  Valley 
under  Rev.  William  Graham  (afterward  Washington 
College),  made  provision,  February,  1775,  for  an  in- 
stitution in  Prince  Edward.  Thus  be<ran  an  illustrious 
career  of  usefulness,  the  institution  now  known  as 
Hampden-Sidney  College.  Rev.  Samuel  Stanhope 
Smith  was  its  first  President,  to  be  succeeded,  when  he 
accepted  the  professorship  of  moral  philosophy  in 
Princeton,  by  his  no  less  eminent  and  accomplished 
brother,  Rev.  John  Blair  Smith.  Of  his  distinguished 
services  and  ability,  the  history  of  Virginia,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  of  education,  is  full.  Rev. 
Druy  Lacy,  was  acting  President  for  seven  years,  fol- 
lowed by  the  sainted  Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  names 
memorable  and  honored.  Rev.  Moses  Hoge,  D.  D., 
was  President  from  1807  to  1820,  and  filled  the  double 


THE    SnUTHKKN    PRESBYTERIAN    cifURCir. 


503 


position  of  President  of  the  College  and  Professor  of 
Theology,  by  appointment  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia. 
With  varying  fortunes  the  college  lias  pursued  the  even 
tenor  of  its  way,  and  now,  under  the  efficient  presidency 
of  Rev.  Richard  Mcllwaine,  D.  I).,  has  reached  a  higher 
prosperity  than  ever  known  before  in  its  history. 

In    1837   Davidson    College    was   planted    in     Meck- 
lenburg  County,    N.    C,    a   county   already    famous   no 


DAVIDSON 


ILLEGE,    DAVIDSON,    N. 


less  for  its  love  of  liberal  education  than  for  its  love 
of  independence.  For  fifty-five  years  it  has  steadily 
advanced  in  popular  regard,  and  has  stimulated  a  love 
of  thorough  scholarship.  Its  graduates  are  held  in  high 
esteem,  more  than  one-third  of  whom  have  entered  the 
Presbyterian  ministry.  Davidson  College  is  under  the 
control  of  a  Board  of  Trustees  appointed  by  the  Pres- 
byteries of  the  Synods  of  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia,  and  Florida.  Rev.  [.  B.  Shearer,  1).  I)., 
LL.  D.,  is  President  (1891),  and  the  number  of  stu- 
dents in  attendance  is  now  larger  than  ever  before. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  Central  Univer- 


504  PRESBYTERIANS. 

sity,  Richmond,  Ky.,  under  the  chancellorship  of  Rev. 
Dr.  L.  H.  Blanton,  which  was  founded  by  the  Pres- 
byterians of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  since  the  close  of 
the  Civil  War,  and  to  Southwestern  Presbyterian  Uni- 
versity, Clarkesville,  Tenn.,  under  the  control  and 
gaining  the  patronage  and  confidence  of  our  six  South- 
western Synods,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Rawlings,  Chancellor, 
both  of  which  institutions,  wisely  administered  and  with 
full  and  able  corps  of  professors,  are  meeting  with  de- 
served prosperity  and  accomplishing  much  for  our 
Southern  Church. 

To  meet  the  wants  of  that  attractive  region,  and  filled 
with  a  true  and  sturdy  population,  embraced  in  East 
Tennessee  and  Southwest  Virginia,  King  College  was 
founded  in  1869.  Of  its  work  it  is  enough  to  say,  more 
than  half  its  graduates  have  entered  the  Presbyterian 
ministry,  many  reaching  by  their  ability  and  scholar- 
ship eminence,  usefulness  and  honor.  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Albert 
Wallace  is  President.  Its  curators  are  appointed  by 
Presbyteries  in  Tennessee  and  Virginia. 

In  1872,  at  Batesville,  Ark.,  under  the  presidency  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  J.  Long,  Arkansas  College  was 
founded,  and  has  accomplished  a  noble  work  for  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  more  than  a  third  of  its  graduates 
becoming  ministers. 

Westminster  College,  Fulton,  Mo.,  with  an  accom- 
plished faculty,  Rev.  William  Hoge  Marquess,  D.  D., 
President,  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  and 
One  of  the  few  colleges  of  the  West  that  worked  on 
bravely  during  the  war,  has  maintained  a  high  standard 
of  scholarship,  and  promises  to  rise  to  more  and  more 
prominence  in  the  sphere  of  Christian  education,  its 
endowment  having  been  recently  largely  increased,  and 


THE    SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 


505 


is  already  reckoned  among  our  most  solid  and  substan- 
tial institutions. 

In  the  vast  State  of  Texas,  itself  a  magnificent  em- 
pire, Presbyterians  have  maintained  amid  many  dis- 
couragements, both  before  and  since  the  war,  a  college 
which  has  done  already  much  to  build  up  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  is  constantly  growing  in  public  con- 


THORNWELL    ORPHANAGE,    CLINTON,    S.    C. 


fidence  and  influence,  and  gaining  in  patronage.  Austin 
College  is  situated  at  Sherman,  Tex.,  and  is  under  the 
presidency  of  Rev.  S.  M.  Luckett,  D.  D. 

The  youngest  of  the  institutions  recognized  as 
avowedly  Presbyterian  is  Clinton  College,  Clinton,  S.  C. 

Of  eleemosynary  institutions,  as  of  collegiate,  there 
are  several  under  the  control  of  boards  of  trustees  ap- 
pointed by  church  courts,  and  others  whose  affairs  are 
directed  by  Presbyterians.  One  of  the  most  widely 
known  is  the  Thornwell  Orphanage,  at  Clinton,  S.  C,  a 
memorial  of  the  divine  whose  name  it  bears,  and  a 
fitting  one,  as   he  himself,  though  not  an   orphan,  was 


506  PRESBYTERIANS. 

cared  for  in  his  early  years  by  others.  Thornwell 
Orphanage  is  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Wm.  P.  Jacobs, 
D.  D.,  and  without  endowment  or  resources  of  any 
kind,  dependent  on  the  favor  of  Him  who  feeds  the 
ravens  and  clothes  the  lilies  of  the  field,  has  now  within 
its  several  memorial  cottages,  built  by  the  gifts  in  many 
instances  of  children,  and  as  memorials  of  loved  ones, 
an  hundred  orphans,  in  the  hallowed  control  of  a 
Christian  home.  Already  some  have  left  its  walls  for 
the  ministry,  and  one  is  a  missionary  in  Japan,  who  was 
there  cared  for  and  educated. 

Presbyterians  in  Charlotte,  N.  C,  having  maintained 
a  home  for  orphans  for  several  years,  yielded  its  control 
to  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  which  has  removed  it 
to  Barium  Springs,  Iredell  County,  N.  C.  Though  re- 
cently destroyed  by  fire,  a  munificent  benefaction  from 
Mr.  G.  W.  Watts,  of  Durham,  N.  C,  will  enable  the 
Synod  to  resume  its  benevolent  enterprise. 

In  other  cities,  too,  Presbyterians,  sometimes  in  asso- 
ciation with  other  Christians,  have  opened  and  main- 
tained dispensaries,  retreats  for  the  sick,  homes  for  the 
aged,  or  for  the  friendless,  for  boys  or  for  girls,  hos- 
pitals, orphanages,  and  asylums,  and  sought  to  illus- 
trate the  character  of  their  Lord  and  follow  His  example 
who  "went  about  doing  good." 

The  principles  maintained  by  the  Southern  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  tidings  concerning  its  work,  have 
been  zealously  and  ably  advocated,  and  widely  and  in- 
terestingly told  by  several  journals,  official  and  un- 
official. The  Missionary,  one  of  the  best  of  the  For- 
eign Mission  journals,  is  issued  by  the  committee  at 
Nashville  under  the  editorial  care  of  the  secretaries. 
The    Home    Missionary  in  like  manner    presents    the 


THE   SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  507 

interests  of  home  mission  work  in  all  its  details.  For 
Sunday  school  teachers  The  Earnest  Worker  is  pub- 
lished by  the  Committee  of  Publication  and  Sunday 
Schools,  and  for  children's  reading  they  issue  The 
Children  s  Friend.  An  able  and  scholarly  theological 
review,  The  Presbyterian  Quarterly,  admirably  edited 
by  Dr.  George  Summey,  and  Drs.  Strickler  and  Har- 
nett, is  published  in  Richmond,  Va.  The  Union  Semi- 
nary Magazine  is  winning  its  popularity.  The  Chris- 
tian Observer  of  Louisville,  The  Central  Presbyte- 
rian of  Richmond,  The  St.  Louis  Presbyterian,  The 
North  Carolina  Presbyterian,  The  Southern  Presby- 
terian of  Columbia,  The  Southwestern  Presbyterian 
of  New  Orleans,  The  Texas  Presbyterian  are  the 
weekly  family  religious  papers  of  the  Southern  Church. 
They  illustrate  that  local  devotion  characteristic  of 
Southern  people,  and  while  giving  news  and  discussions 
from  the  whole  Church,  foster  and  give  prominence  to 
the  work  of  the  special  Synods  and  parts  of  the  Church 
in  which  they  find  their  constituency  chiefly.  Edited 
with  varying  ability,  they  present  a  faithful  portraiture 
of  the  piety,  earnestness,  culture,  spirituality,  and 
aggressiveness  that  mark  in  greater  or  less  degree  the 
Church  whose  interests  they  subserve. 

Such  is,  in  brief,  the  outline  of  the  Southern  Presby- 
terian Church,  a  sketch  too  much  without  color.  It 
would  have  been  pleasant  to  have  lingered  in  the  story 
of  its  heroic  hours.  Not  less  glorious  than  the  magni- 
ficent protest  of  Chalmers  and  others,  and  the  silent  and 
solemn  retirement  from  the  Assembly  llall  in  the  Free 
Church  movement  of  [843,  was  the  movement  in  the 
Synods  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri  led  1))'  such  men  as 
Stuart    Robinson  and   S.  B.  McPheeters.      We  have  a 


508  PRESBYTERIANS. 

compensation  for  the  toils  and  sacrifices  of  those  days  in 
the  stern  testimonies  that  were  given.  The  bitterness 
is  past — the  witness  is  uttered — the  truth  abides  forever. 
It  could  have  been  no  less  pleasant  to  have  pictured  the 
struggles  and  successes  of  evangelistic  effort  at  home 
and  abroad — and  our  Church  has  abundant  reason  for 
gratitude  for  the  favor  of  a  covenant-keeping  God.  By 
the  side  of  those  who  preached  in  the  fastnesses  of  the 
highlands  or  at  low  tide  on  the  glistening  sand,  or  of 
those  who  bore  the  Gospel  to  the  South  Seas  and  wit- 
nessed the  transformation  of  savage  tribes,  may  be 
placed  the  record  of  those  self-sacrificing  missionaries 
who  preached  to  and  cared  for  the  slaves,  or  who  planted 
the  banner  of  the  Cross  in  remote  and  inaccessible 
regions  in  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia,  or  the  story 
of  our  own  Allen  Wright,  Kingsbury,  Inslee,  and  Ed- 
ward Lane.  It  would  have  been  pleasant  to  have  told  of 
such  men  who  have  made  the  annals  of  the  Southern 
Church  luminous  with  the  splendor  of  their  genius  and 
achievements,  as  Thornwell,  and  Chancellor  Johnstone, 
Lyon  and  Justice  Swayne,  Stuart  Robinson  and  Gov- 
ernor Wickliffe,  McPheeters  and  Judge  Shepherd, 
Plumer,  and  many  others,  not  to  mention  the  names 
of  the  living.  It  has  been  rather  our  effort  to  give 
a  faithful  presentation  of  the  causes  of  our  existence 
as  a  Church,  and  of  the  progress  of  our  beloved 
Zion. 

The  outlook  is  one  of  encouragement  and  hope. 
The  life  of  the  Church  has  been  developed  by  the 
very  discipline  through  which  it  has  been  called  to  pass. 
With  energy  and  buoyancy  it  has  addressed  itself  to 
the  work  allotted  in  the  providence  of  God.  Bearing 
faithful   testimony   to   the  spirituality    of   the   Church, 


THE    SOUTHERN    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 


509 


preaching  "the  gospel  of  the  Kingdom,"  of  which 
Christ  alone  is  King,  it  has  sought  to  live  in  peace  and 
fellowship  with  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Fraternal  relations  are  maintained  with  the  Church 
from  which  it  separated,  and  with  all  other  Presbyterian 
bodies — and   for  all  Christian    ministers  and   Churches 


WESTMINSTER    COLLEGE,    FULTON,    MO. 


there  is  the  warmest  brotherly  sympathy.  The  increase 
in  missionary  zeal,  the  development  of  spiritual  life,  the 
devotion  to  the  traditions  of  Presbyterianism,  the  in- 
telligent attachment  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word  of 
God,  and  to  the  standards  as  teaching  the  doctrines  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  rapid  growth  in  numbers,  both  of 
communicants  and  those  seeking  the  ministry,  the 
equipment  and  success  of  educational  and  eleemosyn- 
ary institutions,  and  the  special  success  that  has  accom- 


5IO  PRESBYTERIANS. 

panied  the  Church's  managing  its  own  work,  all  these 
give  just  cause  for  congratulation  and  hope,  and  awaken 
profoundest  gratitude  to  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  who  has  given  us  a  place  and  a  work  in  His 
Kingdom. 

"  In  the  name  of  our  God  we  will  set  up  our  banners. 
The  Lord  fulfill  all  our  petitions  !  " 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE      PRESBYTERIAN     COMMUNION. 

By  Prof.  WM.  HENRY  ROBERTS,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  American  Secretary  of 
the  Presbyterian  Alliance. 

rP  1 1  K  word  communion  is  used  ecclesiastically  to  ex- 
1  press  the  idea  of  a  widespread  religious  fellowship, 
including  within  the  same  bonds  of  faith  and  polity 
men  of  many  nations  and  diverse  races.  There  is  a 
Roman  communion,  composed  of  all  those  who  ac- 
knowledge the;  supremacy  of  the  Pope  ;  a  Greek  com- 
munion, including  all  who  look  to  the  Czar  of  Russia 
as  ecclesiastical  leader,  and  an  Anglican  communion, 
taking  within  its  compass  those  who  accept  the  faith 
and  order  of  the  Established  Church  of  England. 
The  Presbyterian  communion  includes  all  Christians 
who  maintain  what  are  called  the  great  doctrines  of 
grace,  and  arc  organized  in  accordance  with  the  princi- 
ples of  representative  government. 

The  number  of  Presbyterians  thoughout  the  world  at 
present  is  about  21,000,000.  They  are  found  in  well- 
nigh  every  nation,  on  all  five  continents,  and  are 
gathered  into  more  than  eighty  denominations.  See 
statistical  table,  p.  534.  While  holding- with  all  Protest- 
ants the  fundamental  doctrines  of  evangelical  Christi- 
anity, they  emphasize  what  is  sometimes  called  Pauline, 
sometimes  the  Augustinian,  ami  ordinarily  the  Calvinis- 
tic  system  of  doctrine.  The  essential  characteristic  of 
this   system   is  that  it  makes  the  process   of  human  sal- 

5" 


5  1 2  PRESBYTERIANS. 

vation  from  beginning  to  end,  from  election  to  glorifi- 
cation, dependent  for  efficiency  solely  upon  the  rich, 
free,  full,  unmerited  and  special  grace  toward  sinners, 
provided  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  Salvation  is  "not  of 
works  lest  any  man  should  boast." 

Further,  Presbyterian  Church  Government,  as  well 
as  the  Calvinistic  doctrine,  is  regarded  as  apostolic  in 
origin.  The  principal  elements  of  the  Presbyterian 
polity  are  :  The  sole  headship  of  Jesus  Christ,  involv- 
ing submission  to  his  law  as  contained  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ;  the 
parity  or  equality  of  the  ministry  ;  the  equality  of 
believers  in  power  and  privilege;  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  involving  the  authoritative  control  of  the 
Church,  not  by  individuals  but  by  representative 
courts,  known  as  Church  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  Synods, 
and  General  Assemblies.  Magnifying  doctrinally  the 
sovereignty  of  God,  the  Presbyterian  System  magnifies 
ecclesiastically  the  sovereignty  of  law. 

The  Presbyterian  polity  suffered  decline  during  the 
Early  and  Middle  Ages,  owing  to  the  influence  of  the 
prevailing  civil  governments,  which  were  either  monar- 
chical or  imperial.  The  Pauline  doctrines  of  grace, 
however,  were  maintained  from  the  Apostolic  Age  to 
the  Reformation  by  a  long  and  glorious  line  of  Theo- 
logians, including  Augustine  (430),  Alcuin  (804), 
Anselm  (1109),  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  (1153),  Brad- 
wardine,  (1349),  WyclifTe  (1384),  Huss  (141 5)  Savon- 
arola (1498),  and  Staupitz,  the  instructor  of  Luther. 
With  the  Reformation  in  15 17,  came  freedom  both  of 
thought  and  action,  and  a  widespread  revival  of  the 
Apostolic  faith  and  polity.  This  revival  found  clearest 
expression  in  the  Churches  called  interchangeably   Re- 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  5  1 3 

formed  and  Presbyterian,  and    the   history  of    many  of 
them  is  briefly  sketched  in  this  article. 

EUROPE. 

Switzerland. — The  Presbyterian  system  found  organ- 
ization first  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  the  Canton  of  Geneva.  The  earliest 
of  the  Swiss  Reformers  was  Ulric  Zwingli,  who  began 
preaching  in  1509  and  who  fell,  in  1531,  in  the  disastrous 
battle  of  Cappel.  But  while  holding  the  Reformed 
doctrine,  he  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the 
Reformed  Churches.  The  Christian  to  whom  this 
great  privilege  was  given  of  God  was  John  Calvin,  a 
native  of  France,  who,  flying  from  persecution,  took 
refuge,  in  1536,  at  Geneva.  The  history  of  the  Refor- 
mation in  Switzerland  from  the  time  of  Calvin  is  the 
history  of  conflict  with  the  Papacy  and  with  heresy. 
The  struggles  between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the 
Protestant  Cantons  did  not  cease  until  the  decisive 
battle  of  Vilmergen,  in  171 2.  Again,  the  union  of 
Church  and  state,  as  elsewhere,  has  been  unfavorable 
to  doctrinal  purity,  and  the  Calvinistic  faith  has  been 
seriously  weakened  by  Unitarianism  and  Rationalism. 
At  present  the  nominal  adherents  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  country  number  1,700,000.  Three  Inde- 
pendent churches  exist,  but  they  are  comparatively 
weak  in  numbers. 

France. — The  French  Reformed  Church  originated 
in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  many  persons 
in  France  being  in  sympathy  with  the  Reformation  in 
Germany.  Their  struggle  through  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  is  sketched  elsewhere.  As  a 
result  of  their  various  persecutions,  fully  500,000  per- 


514  PRESBYTERIANS. 

sons  escaped  from  the  country  and  established  them- 
selves in  various  Protestant  lands,  many  of  them  set- 
tling in  the  American  colonies.  Intolerance  was  the  rule 
from  1685  to  1787,  when  a  new  Edict  of  Toleration  was 
issued  by  Louis  XVI.  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  in  1802, 
gave  complete  liberty  to  the  Reformed  Church,  except 
in  administration;  and  it  was  not  until  1872  that  the 
National  Synod,  after  an  interval  of  more  than  two 
hundred  years,  again  met  by  permission  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  orthodox  party,  being  in  the  majority  in 
this  Synod,  formulated  a  brief  Confession  of  Faith, 
triumphing  over  a  so-called  liberal  minority,  and,  as  a 
result,  on  complaint  by  the  minority,  the  government 
declined  to  authorize  subsequent  Synods.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  Reformed  Church  instituted  a  sys- 
tem of  unofficial  Synods  which  meet  regularly,  and  now 
carry  forward  efficiently  the  work  of  administration. 
The  latest  statistics  show  the  number  of  ministers  to  be 
840,  churches  567,  and  the  total  number  of  adherents 
700,000.  In  addition  to  the  Reformed  Church,  an 
organization  exists  called  The  Union  of  the  Free 
Evangelical  Churches,  having  about  3300  communi- 
cants. The  National  Church  is  supported  by  the 
state.  In  several  European  countries  certain  denomi- 
nations are  recognized  by  law  as  churches  entitled  to 
support  by  the  civil  authorities,  though  they  are  not 
state  churches.  Religious  conditions  in  Europe,  as 
affecting  civil  rights,  are  strange  to  an  American. 
For  instance,  to  secure  civil  standing,  every  person  in 
Germany  must  be  an  adherent  of  some  recognized 
Church.  Again,  in  order  to  obtain  admission  to  the 
state  schools,  a  certificate  of  baptism  is  necessary,  and 
also  for   marriage  or  burial.      This  certificate  must  be 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  5  I  5 

signed  by  the  pastor  of  some  church.  Further,  all 
churches,  both  those  established  bylaw  and  those  which 
are  recognized  as  having  a  legal  standing,  are  responsible 
to  the  state  for  all  persons  nominally  connected  with 
them,  whatever  their  true  spiritual  condition.  This 
state  of  affairs  is  one  of  the  great  obstacles  to  spiritual 
religion  on  the  European  Continent.  Christianity  does 
not  flourish  under  the  pressure  of  such  compulsory 
relations  and  enactments. 

Germany. — The  Reformation  in  Germany  was  the 
work  of  Martin  Luther.  The  Lutheran  Church  is  his 
monument.  The  Reformed  Church  in  Germany  finds 
its  source  in  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland,  originating 
in  the  labors  of  Zwingli,  and  afterward  organized  by  Cal- 
vin. The  chief  differences  between  the  Reformed  and 
Lutheran  Churches  are  two.  Doctrinally  the  Lutheran 
Church  holds  to  consubstantiation,  as  the  true  mode  of 
the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  while  the  Reformed  Church  holds  solely  to  the 
spiritual  presence.  In  matters  of  polity  the  Reformed 
Church  insists  upon  the  right  of  the  Christian  laity  to 
a  participation  in  the  government  through  elders 
elected  by  the  people,  while  the  Lutheran  Church 
governs  by  consistories,  composed  of  ministers  and  lay- 
men, appointed  by  the  Emperor  as  the  Supreme  Bishop. 
The  portions  of  the  German  Empire  in  which  the  Re- 
formed faith  was  largely  prevalent  were  Hesse,  Baden, 
the  Palatinate,  Nassau  and  Prussia.  Between  1817 
and  1822  a  union  was  formed  between  the  Lutheran 
and  the  Reformed,  and  the  united  organization 
bears  the  name  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 
There  are  yet  in  Germany  several  Reformed  organi- 
zations declininsj"   union    with    the    State    Church,  and 


5 16  PRESBYTERIANS. 

the  total  number    of    their    adherents  is  estimated  at 
[,300,000. 

Holland.— -The  Reformed  Church  of  Holland  traces 
its  origin  chiefly  to  Switzerland  and  France.  In  1573 
the  patriotic  party  gained  control  of  the  seven  northern 
provinces  of  the  Netherlands,  and  in  1579  formed  a 
union  under  the  lead  of  William  the  Silent,  Prince  of 
Orange.  The  Church  of  Holland,  like  other  Reformed 
Churches,  had  been  from  the  first  Calvinistic,  but  in 
1600  the  famous  Arminian  controversy  began,  by  which 
it  was  divided  and  weakened.  The  Synod  of  Dort  was 
called  to  decide  the  issues  raised,  and  adopted  in  1619 
the  famous  Canons  or  Articles  of  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
which,  with  the  Beloqc  Confession  and  the  Heidelbero- 
Catechism,  are  the  existing  doctrinal  standards  of  the 
Church.  The  government  is  essentially  Presbyterian, 
but  here,  as  elsewhere,  union  with  the  state  is  the  great 
enemy  of  spiritual  religion.  About  1830  a  number  of 
ministers  and  congregations  separated  from  the  Estab- 
lishment in  order  to  secure,  in  their  opinion,  greater 
purity  of  doctrine  and  polity,  and  formed  a  Church 
with  the  name,  The  Christian  Reformed  Church  of 
Holland.  This  denomination  has  now  about  320  min- 
isters and  congregations,  and  70,000  communicants. 
The  state  Church  has  about  1700  ministers,  1500  con- 
gregations and  2,200,000  adherents. 

Hungary. — The  Reformed  Church  of  Hungary  orig- 
inated in  the  dissemination  of  the  Reformed  doctrine  in 
the  Kingdom  by  University  students  and  others  from 
1523  onward.  It  met  first  in  Synod  at  Varad,  August 
18,  1559.  Up  to  1 78 1,  Hungarian  Protestants  were 
obliged  time  and  again  to  maintain  their  rights  by  force 
of  arms.      In  the  latter  year  the   Emperor  Joseph    II. 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  5  1 7 

issued  his  famous  Edict  of  Toleration.  The  Church  is 
governed  by  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  and  the  number 
of  ministers  is  1997,  of  congregations  2100,  and  of 
baptized  adherents  about  2,100,000.  Being  a  Church 
recognized  by  the  state,  its  ministers  are  maintained  by 
appropriations  from  the  revenues  of  the  Crown.  Each 
Synod  is  controlled  by  a  Superintendent  or  Bishop,  the 
word,  however,  being  used  in  a  non-prelatical  sense. 
This  arrangement  is  the  result  of  the  connection  with 
the  state,  which  holds  the  superintendent  directly  re- 
sponsible for  ministers  and  church  members. 

Italy. — The  history  of  the  evangelical  Christians  of 
Italy  is  written  with  their  blood.  The  Reformation 
spread  rapidly  through  the  land  during  the  earlier  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century t  and  many  adhered  to  its  principles, 
but  in  1542  the  Inquisition  was  established,  and  as  a 
result  the  seventeenth  century  found  Protestantism,  ex- 
cept in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  either  extirpated  or 
expatriated.  In  the  fastnesses  of  the  Alps  the  Wal- 
denses  maintained  a  pure  faith  despite  the  determined 
efforts  of  their  enemies  to  destroy  them. 

In  1533  the  Waldenses  came  into  alliance  with  the 
Swiss  Reformers,  and  their  Churches  were  organized 
more  fully  after  the  Genevan  or  Presbyterian  model. 
This  connection  with  the  Reformers  brought  only  new 
afflictions,  and  the  persecution  of  1655  was  so  terrible 
in  its  character  that  Cromwell  threatened  that,  if  it  did 
not  cease,  he  would  bombard  the  Pope  in  his  Castle  of 
St.  Angelo.  Full  release  from  oppressive  conditions 
was  secured  only  at  the  revolution  in  1848.  Under 
the  favoring  environment  of  a  free  and  reunited  Italy, 
the  Waldensian  Church  has  increased  rapidly  in  num- 
bers and  influence.     There   is  also   in    Italy  an  organ- 


5 18  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ization  called  the  Free  Christian  Church  of  Italy, 
founded  in  1870.  Both  the  Waldensian  and  the  Free 
Churches  are  Presbyterian  in  faith  and  polity.  The 
former  has  18,000,  the  latter  1500  communicants. 

In  the  other  remaining  European  countries  the  Re- 
formed Churches  have  experienced,  as  in  Italy,  great 
reverses.  In  Spain,  Protestantism  was  utterly  destroyed 
by  Philip  II.  Persecution  needs  simply  to  be  thorough 
to  do  its  work.  The  present  Reformed  CJiurch  of 
Spain  was  organized  in  1872,  and  has  at  this  time 
about  1000  communicants.  In  Belgium,  also,  the 
Spanish  monarchs  practically  extirpated  the  adherents 
of  the  Reformation.  Two  churches  are  now  found  in 
the  country,  The  Synod  of  the  Union  of  Evangelical 
Churches  and  The  Synod  of  the  Missionary  Christian 
Church.  In  Poland,  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation, 
the  Polish  nobility  accepted  the  Reformed  faith,  and 
Synods  were  held  in  1550,  and  thereafter  from  time  to 
time  until  1655,  the  date  of  the  Swedish  invasion. 
From  the  date  of  that  event,  war  and  other  causes 
operated  to  overthrow  Protestantism.  At  present, 
there  are  two  feeble  Reformed  Churches  in  Polish  Rus- 
sia, The  Evangelical  Church  of  Poland,  with  2000,  and 
The  Reformed  Church  of  Lithuania,  with  5000  com- 
municants. Both  bodies  are  subjected  to  persecution 
by  the  Russian  officials.  Last,  but  not  least  of  the  Re- 
formed Churches  of  Europe,  are  those  located  in  the 
Austrian  Empire.  One  of  these,  the  Hungarian 
Church,  has  already  been  considered.  Another  of  these 
is  The  Reformed  Church  of  Bohemia,  whose  origin  can 
be  traced  back  to  the  earliest  times  and  which  revived 
its  life  under  the  influence  of  Wycliffe,  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  and  of  Huss,  in  the  fifteenth  century. 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  519 

The  Bohemians  were  the  first  European  people  to  resist 
the  Papacy.  But  though  the  Reformed  portion  of  the 
population  maintained  desperately  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle the  rights  of  conscience,  they  were  at  last  totally 
defeated,  and  the  battle  of  the  Weisberg,  in  1620,  ended 
a  conflict  which  had  lasted,  with  varying  fortunes,  for 
200  years.  From  1620  until  1781,  the  date  of  the  Edict 
of  Toleration,  Protestantism  was  virtually  extinct.  At 
the  present  time  not  more  than  two  per  cent,  of  the 
population  are  of  the  Reformed  faith.  In  addition  to 
the  Churches  of  Bohemia  and  of  Hungaria,  there  are 
in  the  Austrian  Empire  two  other  bodies  professing 
the  Reformed  faith,  the  Reformed  Churches  in  the 
provinces  of  Austria  and  Moravia,  having  between 
them  about  30,000  communicants.  Even  in  this  latter 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  the  hand  of 
Rome  is  heavy  against  the  Churches,  which  it  recog- 
nizes as  its  most  dreaded  enemies,  and  while  it  cannot 
persecute,  does  yet  annoy  Austrian  Presbyterians. 

GREAT    BRITAIN. 

There  are  in  Great  Britain  six  strong  Churches,  bear- 
ing the  Presbyterian  name,  the  first  of  which,  histori- 
cally, is  The  Church  of  Scotland.  The  name  Presby- 
terian is  indissolubly  united  with  the  land  of  John 
Knox.  The  early  Christian  Church  in  Scotland,  which 
originated  probably  in  the  second  century,  was  not  sub- 
ject to  the  Papacy  until  the  twelfth  century.  The 
teachings  of  Columba,  and  the  influence  of  the  Cul- 
dees  were  still  potent  in  the  sixteenth  century  among 
the  Scotch  peasantry.  When  the  Reformation  came. 
it  swept  away  with  a  rush  the  Papal  connection  as  an 
excrescence  and  a  blot.      Under  t'he  lead  of  Knox  the 


520  PRESBYTERIANS. 

Scotch  nation  threw  off  at  one  and  the  same  time  Po- 
pery and  Episcopacy,  and  established  the  Church  as  a 
Reformed  Church  August  I,  1560,  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment. Through  various  struggles  the  Church  has  held 
its  position  till  the  Act  of  Security  in  1707.  Since  then 
the  Church  of  Scotland  has  been,  and  will  possibly 
remain,  the  Church  of  the  kingdom,  unchangeably 
established  by  law,  and  entitled  to  support  by  the  State. 
The  peace  of  the  Church  has  been  disturbed  at  times 
by  controversies,  resulting  in  secessions,  the  principal 
of  which,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  were  those  of  1  733 
and  1 76 1,  and  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the 
Associate  and  the  Relief  Churches.  The  great  seces- 
sion, however,  was  the  movement  which  culminated  in 
the  establishment,  in  1843,  °f  tne  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land. The  number  of  ministers  of  the  State  Church 
by  the  last  statistics,  is  1450;  of  churches  and  parishes, 
1650;  of  communicants,  581,568. 

The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  arose  from  popular  op- 
position to  what  is  called  the  Patronage  Act.  This  Act 
was  passed  in  171 2  by  the  British  Parliament,  and  gave 
to  certain  landed  proprietors  in  parishes  the  right  to 
nominate  pastors,  and  virtually  to  force  their  settlement 
over  congregations  in  the  face  of  opposition  from  the 
majority  of  the  people.  The  Act  frequently  occasioned 
trouble  from  its  first  passage,  but  it  was  not  until  about 
May,  1830,  that  it  began  to  be  made  the  subject  of 
general  complaint.  Certain  cases  arising  under  it  were 
carried  into  the  civil  courts.  The  courts  decided  in 
favor  of  the  proprietors  or  patrons  and  in  opposition  to 
the  will  of  the  people  and  the  decisions  of  the  General 
Assembly.  This  assertion  of  civil  authority  in  the 
determination  of  ecclesiastical  matters  stirred  Scotland 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  52 1 

to  its  center,  and  led,  under  the  influence  of  Thomas 
Chalmers  and  others  in  1843,  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Free  Church.  In  that  year  470  ministers  left  the 
Established  Church,  led  by  the  Moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  organized  a  new  denomination.  It 
is  in  all  respects  similar  in  organization  to  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  except  in  the  fact  that  it  has  no  connection 
with  the  State.  Statistics  :  ministers,  1249  ;  congrega- 
tions, 1030;  communicants,   335,000. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  is  the 
existing  representative  of  the  Associate  and  Relief 
secessions  from  the  Established  Church,  effected  in 
1733  and  1 76 1  respectively,  and  largely  as  a  protest 
against  state  control  of  Church  affairs.  A  union  be- 
tween these  secessions  was  accomplished  in  May,  1847, 
at  Edinburgh  and  the  latest  statistics  are  as  follows  : 
ministers,  615;  congregations,  567;  communicants, 
184,352.  This  denomination  is  a  Psalm-singing  Church, 
and  it  is  noteworthy  that  its  General  Assembly  passed, 
in  1879,  a  Declaratory  Act  explaining  the  Calvinistic 
portions  of  the  Westminster  Confession  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  Divine  love. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  England. — The  English 
Puritans  were  Calvinistic  in  doctrine,  and  largely  Pres- 
byterian in  polity.  The  spread  of  Presbyterian  doc- 
trines and  governmental  views  was  rapid  from  1572  on- 
ward, and  finally  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  as  the  state  Church  of  England 
by  Act  of  Parliament,  June  29,  1647.  It  was  at  this' 
time  that  the  Westminster  Assembly  met  and  framed 
that  general  standard  of  Presbyterian  doctrine,  in 
English-speaking  countries,  which  is  known  as  the 
Westminster    Confession.      Presbyterianism,    however, 


522  PRESBYTERIANS. 

though  established  by  Act  of  Parliament,  never  became 
the  recognized  state  Church  outside  of  London  and 
Lancashire,  and  even  in  these  localities  its  influence 
and  power  were  seriously  impaired  by  the  opposition  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  who  suppressed  its  Synod  meetings 
in  1655.  At  the  Restoration  in  1661,  a  sharp  crisis  oc- 
curred in  the  history  of  English  Presbyterianism.  Par- 
liament passed  an  act  of  Uniformity  requiring  all 
rectors  to  conform  to  the  newly  established  Episcopal 
Church.  Many  complied,  but  nearly  2000  ministers 
resigned  their  charges,  or  were  ejected  from  them  rather 
than  conform  to  the  state  Church.  Of  these  ministers, 
1500  were  Presbyterians.  This  Church  has  also  suf- 
fered from  internal  strife.  During  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury subscription  to  doctrinal  standards  was  not  re- 
garded by  the  majority  of  its  ministers  as  essential  to 
good  standing.  A  gradual  departure  from  the  faith  of 
the  fathers  was  the  result,  until  at  last  in  many  portions 
of  the  country,  Presbyterian  and  Unitarian  had  become 
synonymous  terms.  There  are  churches  to-day  in 
England  known  legally  as  Presbyterian  churches  but 
in  whose  pulpits  Unitarian  ministers  officiate.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  English  origin 
quite  a  number  of  congregations  have  existed,  from  an 
early  date,  which  are  of  Scotch  origin.  In  1843  a 
Synod  was  organized  in  sympathy  with  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland,  and,  in  1876,  this  Synod  formed  a  union  with 
the  English  branch  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Scotland,  the  new  body  taking  the  name  of  the  Pres- 
bvterian  Church  of  England.  This  Church  is  ^ov- 
erned  by  a  Synod,  and  in  1889  adopted  a  new  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  containing  twenty-five  articles,  not  as  a 
substitute  for,  but  as  supplementary  to  the  Westminster 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  523 

Confession.  Statistics  :  Ministers,3oo  ;  Congregations, 
288  ;  Communicants,  65,000. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland. — Presbyterians 

entered  Ireland  from  Scotland  in  1608.  Their  num- 
bers were  largely  increased,  about  1641,  by  the  sup- 
pression of  the  great  Roman  Catholic  Rebellion  of  that 
year.and  the  settlement  of  Scotch  soldiers  in  the  country. 
This  Church,  like  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England, 
was  greatly  troubled  by  the  Unitarian  heresy.  Internal 
conflicts,  however,  came  to  a  close  in  1827,  when  Arian- 
ism  in  Ireland  was  decisively  overthrown  under  the 
leadership  of  the  famous  Henry  Cooke,  D.  D.,  and  the 
Irish  Church  was  established  upon  a  thoroughly  evan- 
gelical basis.  This  victory  was  followed  in  1840  by  the 
union  of  the  Synod  of  Ulster  with  the  body  called  the 
Seceder  Synod,  the  new  organization  taking  the  name 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland.  The  Church  is 
governed  by  a  General  Assembly  and  holds  tenaciously 
to  the  Westminster  Confession.  It  regards  ministers 
as  teaching  elders,  and  emphasizes  lay  power.  Statis- 
tics :  Ministers,  626,  congregations,  555,  communicants, 
102,678. 

The  Calvinistic Methodist  Church  of  Wales. — Welsh 
Methodism  is  in  origin  independent  of,  and  was  organ- 
ized prior  to,  English  Methodism.  Methodist  Societies 
were  organized  in  Wales  as  early  as  1736,  three  years 
previous  to  the  organization  of  English  Societies  by 
John  Wesley.  In  1740  the  great  division  between 
Calvinists  and  Arminians  took  place  in  the  Methodist 
body  in  England,  but  the  Welsh  Methodists  were  Cal- 
vinists from  the  beginning.  The  First  General  Asso- 
ciation or  Synod  was  held  in  1742.  Formal  withdrawal 
from  the  Church  of  England  did   not   take  place  until 


524  PRESBYTERIANS. 

1811,  when  at  the  General  Synod  held  at  Bala,  21  per- 
sons were  ordained  to  the  office  of  the  ministry,  and  a 
Church  organization  was  established  based  avowedly 
upon  the  New  Testament.  It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  the  ministers  and  members  of  this  Church  had 
been  brought  up  under  the  influence  of  Episcopacy,  and 
yet,  after  due  study  of  the  Scriptures,  rejected  in  toto 
that  system  of  Church  Government.  In  1823  a  Con- 
fession of  Faith  was  adopted,  and  in  1864  the  General 
Assembly  was  constituted.  The  word  Methodist,  in  the 
name  of  this  Church,  is  to  be  understood  as  defining  not 
a  system  of  doctrine,  but  methods  of  Christian  life  and 
work.  In  this  Church  every  elder  is  a  member  of 
Presbytery,  a  feature  of  the  polity  which  gives  to  the 
laity  an  overwhelming  influence.  Statistics:  Ministers, 
101 2,  churches,  1439,  communicants,  142,051. 

AMERICA. 

The  history  of  several  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
in  the  United  States  has  been  discussed  at  length  in 
other  portions  of  this  volume.  The  limitations  of 
space  have  forbidden  the  presentation  in  the  work  of 
complete  accounts  of  the  remaining  denominational 
organizations  found  on  the  American  Continent.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  brief  sketches  which  follow  will  be 
accepted  as  a  slight  though  inadequate  effort  to  recog- 
nize and  appreciate  honored  and  highly  esteemed 
Churches  of  Christ. 

The  United  States. — There  are  three  Christian 
Churches  at  present  existing  in  the  United  States 
which  originated  on  the  European  Continent.  The 
first  of  these  is  :  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 
This    Church     was    founded    in    New    Amsterdam    as 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  525 

a  colonial  Church  by  the  Reformed  Church  of  Hol- 
land. The  first  congregation  was  organized  in  1628 
with  the  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius  as  pastor.  In  1664 
the  colony  was  captured  by  the  English  and  its  name 
changed    to    New    York,    but    the    connection    of    the 


SEMINARY    HALL,    WESTERN    THEOLOGICAL    SKMINARY,    ALLEGIIKNY,    PA. 

Reformed  Dutch  Church  with  Holland  was  main- 
tained and  continued  until  about  1770,  when  two 
bodies,  one  called  the  Coetus  (1747),  and  the  other  the 
Conferentie  (1755),  united  in  forming  a  self-governing 
court.  The  formal  and  full  organization  as  an  Ameri- 
can Church  took  place  in  1792,  when  the  first  General 
Synod  met.  Emigration  from  Holland  to  the  Atlan- 
tic region  ended  about  1750,  and  the  1  hitch  language 
ceased,  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  to  be  the  vernac- 


526  PRESBYTERIANS. 

ular  of  many  of  the  people  during  the  first  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  In  1867,  the  name  by  which 
the  Church  had  been  legally  known  for  three-quarters 
of  a  century,  "  The  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church,"  was  changed  to  read  "  The  Reformed 
Church  in  America."  A  liturgy  is  provided  for  use  in 
public  worship,  but  is  not  obligatory.  The  forms  for 
baptism,  communion,  ordination,  etc.,  are  mandatory. 
The  names  of  the  judicatories  differ  from  those  in  use 
in  other  Presbyterian  Churches.  The  Session  is  called 
a  Consistory,  the  Presbytery  a  Classis,  and  the  higher 
bodies  are  Particular  Synods,  and  the  General  Synod. 
Further,  the  Session  is  vested  with  power  to  adminis- 
ter the  temporal  affairs  of  the  congregation,  and  the 
pastor  is  both  Moderator  of  Session  and  Chairman  of 
the  trustees.  The  Church  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  and 
most  influential  in  the  country.  Statistics  :  ministers 
572,   congregations   580,    communicants,   94,323. 

The  second  organization  bearing  the  Reformed 
name  is  The  Christian  Reformed  Church,  which  is  a 
branch  of  the  Church  of  the  same  name  which  was 
organized  in  Holland  in  1835,  as  a  protest  against  the 
then  condition  of  the  state  Church.  It  is  composed 
in  large  part  of  recent  emigrants,  and  is  strongest  in 
the  State  of  Michigan.  It  has  about  75  ministers,  99 
congregations  and   12,470  communicants. 

The  largest  of  the  Reformed  Bodies  in  the  United 
States  is  The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 
The  first  emigrants  to  the  American  colonies  from  the 
Reformed  Churches  of  Germany  settled  in  New  Jersey 
and  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  in  16S4.  The  majority 
came  from  the  Palatinate.  The  first  minister  of  this 
Church  was  the    Rev.   John  J.    Ehle,   who    labored    in 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  527 

New  York  from  17 10-1780.  In  1746  the  Palatinate 
Classis  orv  Presbytery  sent  the  Rev.  Michael  Schlatter 
over  as  Superintendent,  who  found  in  the  country  54 
congregations,  30,000  adherents,  but  only  five  ordained 
ministers.  The  growth  of  the  Church  was  greatly 
hindered  by  this  lack  of  ministers,  and  the  lack  was 
not  supplied  so  long  as  dependence  upon  Germany 
was  maintained.  In  1747,  a  Coetus,  or  ecclesiastical 
convention  having  only  advisory  powers,  was  formed, 
which  in  1792  became  a  Synod.  In  1793  the  Church 
became  independent  and  adopted  a  Constitution.  Its 
services  until  1825  were  everywhere  conducted  in  the 
German  language,  then  the  change  to  English  began 
which  has  since  become  quite  general.  In  1863  a 
General  Synod  was  established,  and  in  1869  the  word 
German  was  dropped  from  the  title  of  the  Church. 
The  names  given  to  Church  judicatories  are  the  same 
as  in  the  Dutch  Church,  with  the  exception  that  the 
Particular  Synod  is  called  a  District  Synod.  This 
Church  is  now  considering  the  advisability  of  forming  a 
Federal  Union  with  the  Reformed  Church  in  America. 
Statistics:  ministers  871,  congregations  1573,  commu- 
nicants 208,990. 

In  addition  to  the  Presbyterian  Churches  in  the 
United  States,  whose  history  is  thus  recounted,  there 
are  also  the  following  bodies.  The  Associate  Re- 
formed  Synod  of  the  South  has  eight  Presbyteries, 
with  116  churches  and  8501  members.  The  Associate 
Church  of  North  America  has  four  Presbyteries,  31 
churches  and  1053  members.  The  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  has 
one  church  of  600  members.  The  Reformed  Presby- 
terian   Covenanted   Church   has  four  churches  and   37 


528  PRESBYTERIANS. 

members.  The  statistics  of  these  last  four  are  quoted 
from  the  Census  of  1890. 

There  is  also  in  the  United  States  a  branch  of  the 
Welsh  Presbyterian  Church.  Presbyterians  of  this 
nationality  settled  in  the  country  as  early  as  1684, 
but  the  first  congregation  connected  with  the  Welsh 
Church  was  established  in  1826,  at  Remsen,  N.  Y.  The 
services  are  conducted  in  the  Welsh  langfuaefe.  and  the 
membership  is  recruited  by  emigration  from  the  Prin- 
cipality. Statistics:  ministers,  130;  churches,  187; 
communicants,  12,275. 

Canada. —  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada. — 
The  first  Presbyterian  minister  in  the  general  territory 
now  bearing  the  name  of  Canada  was  the  Rev.  James 
Lyon,  who  came  from  New  Jersey,  U.  S.  A.,  in  1764  to 
Nova  Scotia.  The  people  to  whom  he  ministered  were 
immigrants  from  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  these  two 
countries  were  the  chief  sources  of  the  Presbyterian 
population  in  the  Dominion.  These  immigrants  natu- 
rally brought  with  them  to  their  new  homes  the  religious 
differences  existing  in  the  motherlands.  The  first 
Presbytery  established  was  one  in  connection  with  the 
Associate  Synod  of  Scotland  in  1  769,  and,  between  that 
date  and  1843,  Presbyteries  were  established  in  con- 
nection with  the  various  Presbyterian  organizations  in 
.Scotland.  In  the  latter  year  one-fourth  of  the  ministers 
and  churches  in  the  Scotch  connection  organized  the 
Free  Church  of  Canada.  The  desire  for  Church  unity, 
however,  found  expression  repeatedly  in  the  history  of 
the  Canadian  Churches,  and  finally  culminated  in  1875 
in  the  union  of  the  then  existing  four  Presbyterian 
denominations.  In  the  Dominion  of  Canada  to-day 
there  is  but  one  Church  holding  the  Presbyterian  doc- 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN    COMMUNION.  529 

trine  and  polity,  and  it  is  a  livirig  illustration  of  the 
value  and  power  of  unity  in  Christian  faith  and  work. 
Statistics,  1891  :  ministers,  1020;  churches,  1769;  mis- 
sions, 698;  communicants,  169,152. 

OTHER    AMERICAN    CHURCHES. 

The  principal  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  West  Indies 
is  The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Jamaica.  This  Church 
originated  in  the  work  of  missionaries  sent  out  from 
Glasgow,  Scotland,  in  1820.  Its  highest  judicatory,  the 
Synod,  was  organized  in  1848.  Statistics  :  30  ministers, 
66  congregations  and  9444  communicants. 

In  Mexico,  Central  America  and  Chili,  important 
Presbyterian  missions  exist.  In  Patagonia  Welsh  Pres- 
byterians are  found,  and  The  Presbytery  of  Trinidad 
and  the  Synod  of  the  Dictch  Reformed  Church  in  Stcri- 
nam  are  independent  bodies. 

The  principal  South  American  Presbyterian  Church 
is  The  Presbyterian  CJmrch  of  Brazil.  The  Calvin- 
istic  faith  was  first  carried  to  Brazil  by  the  Huguenots, 
m  1 555,  but  only  to  be  destroyed  by  persecution.  The 
present  Church  organization  originated  in  the  labors  of 
missionaries  sent  out  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  the  first  of  whom  was  the 
Rev.  A.  G.  Simonton,  who  landed  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  in 
August,  1859.  Missionary  work  has  been  also  carried 
on  in  Brazil  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  (South).  The  missionaries  of  these  two 
churches  came  together,  in  1888,  at  Rio,  and  organized, 
with  the  full  consent  of  the  General  Assemblies  inter- 
ested, the  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Brazil. 
Statistics:  32  ministers,  67  churches  and  3000  commu- 
nicants. 


53Q 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


ASIA. 


In  addition  to  the  Colonial  Reformed  Dutch  Church, 
with  its  240,000  adherents,  in  the  East  Indies,  and  the 
numerous  Presbyterian  missions  scattered  from  Syria  to 
Korea,  there   are  two  native  Churches  in  Asia,  which 


SYRIAN    PROTESTANT   COLLEGE,    BEIRUT,    SYRIA. 

are  the  first  fruits  of  foreign  mission  work  on  that  con- 
tinent. 

The  first  to  which  attention  is  drawn  is  The  Evan- 
gelical Svriac  Church  of  Persia.  This  Church  is  the 
outgrowth  of  American  missions  among  the  Nestorians 
in  that  country,  beginning  in  the  year  1835.  The  first 
formal  organization  was  accomplished  in  1862,  and  in 
1878  a  Confession  of  Faith  and  a  form  of  government 
were  adopted.      The  system  of  polity  is  essentially  Pres- 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  531 

byterian,  with  one  or  two  points  of  difference.  Native 
ministers,  for  instance,  insist  upon  the  maintenance  of 
the  tliaconate  as  a  preaching  order.  The  prospects  of 
growth  for  the  Church  are  encouraging.  It  has  at 
present  50  ministers,  25  churches  and  2290  communi- 
cants. 

The  second  denomination  is  the  United  Church  of 
Christ  in  Japan.  This  Church  originated  in  missions 
established,  in  1859,  by  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
Churches  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Prominent 
among  the  original  missionaries  was  Dr.  J.  C.  Hep- 
burn. In  1873  the  Presbytery  of  Japan  was  constituted  ; 
in  1877  a  denominational  organization  was  formed,  and 
by  1886  all  the  Presbyterian  missionaries,  from  what- 
ever country,  had  entered  into  the  movement.  An 
effort  to  unite  the  Congregational  with  the  Presby- 
terian ministers  and  Churches  made  in  1887  failed, 
owing  to  the  opposition  of  Congregationalists  in  the 
United  States.  The  Japanese  Church  is  now  thor- 
oughly organized,  and  has  adopted  (1891)  a  brief  creed, 
composed  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  with  one  or  two  ad- 
ditional statements  of  doctrine.  Statistics :  Native 
ministers,  40  ;  congregations,  68  ;  communicants,  8954. 

AFRICA. 

The  Dark  Continent  is  not  altogether  given  over  to 
the  blackness  of  heathenism.  Numerous  Christian 
Missions  are  found  in  its  every  part,  and  in  some  sec- 
tions there  are  fully  organized  Churches.  In  Algeria, 
there  are  three  Presbyteries,  in  connection  with  the 
Reformed  Church  of  France,  and  in  South  Africa  there- 
are  six  distinct  denominations  bearing  the  name  of  Re- 
formed, the   principal  one  of  which  is  The  Dutch   AY- 


532  PRESBYTERIANS. 


formed  Church  of  South  Africa.  The  total  of  Pres- 
byterian and  Reformed  members  and  adherents  on  the 
Continent  is  estimated  at  about  150,000. 


AUSTRALASIA. 


In  the  South  Pacific,  Presbyterian  Churches  or  Mis- 
sions are  found  in  New  Zealand,  Tasmania,  the  New 
Hebrides  and  Australia.  The  first  Presbyterian  con- 
gregation established  in  this  part  of  the  world  was  or- 
ganized at  Portland  Head,  New  South  Wales,  in  1809. 
As  in  Canada  so  in  Australia,  the  divisions  existing  in 
Scotland  at  the  time  of  the  settlement  were  perpet- 
uated in  the  Colonies.  The  tendency  toward  ecclesias- 
tical union,  however,  soon  manifested  itself  in  Austra- 
lia, so  that,  from  1859  onward,  Church  divisions  gradu- 
ally disappeared,  until  there  is  now  one  Presbyterian 
Church  in  each  of  the  colonies  of  New  South  Wales, 
Victoria,  Queensland,  West  Australia,  East  Australia, 
South  Australia  and  Tasmania.  The  tendency  to  union 
reached  its  consummation  in  1891,  when  the  Federal 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  was  formed, 
having  jurisdiction  in  certain  general  matters  over  all 
the  Churches.  There  are  in  the  Australian  Churches, 
40  Presbyteries,  743  congregations,  384  ministers,  and 
33,157  communicants. 

Presbyterian  congregations  were  first  organized  in 
New  Zealand  about  1840,  and  the  first  Presbytery  was 
established  in  Otago  in  1854.  The  union  of  the 
several  Presbyterian  denominations  on  the  islands  was 
accomplished  in  1862,  so  that  there  are  at  present  in 
existence  but  two  Churches  of  the  Reformed  Faith  : 
The  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  Zealand,  occupying 
the  northern   islands,  and    The  Presbyterian  Church  of 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  533 

Otago,  the  southern.  The  first-named  Church  has  255 
congregations  and  6849  communicants ;  the  second 
223  congregations    and     1175    communicants.  The 

Churches  of  the  New  Hebrides  are  Mission  Churches 
having  3500  communicants. 

THE    ALLIANCE    OF    THE    REFORMED    CHURCHES. 

This  concise  historical  sketch  would  be  incomplete 
without  reference  to  the  movement  orgfinatingr  about 
1870,  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  McCosh,  President  of 
Princeton  College,  which  has  culminated  in  the  or^ani- 
zation  known  as  "  The  Alliance  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  throughout  the  world  holding  the  Presbyte- 
rian System."  The  motto  of  the  organization  "  Co- 
operation without  incorporation,"  indicates  with  suffi- 
cient clearness  its  general  nature.  The  objects  of  the 
Alliance  are  chiefly  the  creation  of  a  spirit  of  fraternity 
among  brethren  of  like  mind,  and  the  advancement  of 
the  great  cause  of  missions.  It  finds  formal  expression 
in  quadrennial  meetings  called  General  Councils,  hav- 
ing only  advisor)'  powers,  and  of  which  four  have  been 
already  held,  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  1877,  Philadel- 
phia, U.  S.  A.,  in  1880,  Belfast,  Ireland,  1884,  and 
London,  England,  in  1888.  The  Fifth  General  Coun- 
cil is  to  be  held  at  Toronto,  Canada,  September  21-30, 
1892.  More  than  sixty  Reformed  and  Presbyterian 
denominations  are  included  in  the  Alliance. 


534 


PRESBYTERIANS. 


PRESBYTERIAN     AND      REFORMED      CHURCHES 
THROUGHOUT  THE   WORLD. 

Communicants  and  Adherents. 


Countries. 


America  : 

United  States 

Canada 

West  Indies 

Mexico  and  Central  America 

South  America 

Europe  :  Great  Britain  .• 

Scotland 

England 

Wales 

Ireland 

Europe  :  The  Continent : 

Austria  Proper 

Bohemia 

Moravia 

Hungaria 

Belgium 

France 

Germany 

Holland 

Italy 

Russia 

Spain 

Switzerland 

Africa 

Asia  : 

Japan 

Persia , 

Missions 

Australasia  : 

Australia 

New  Hebrides 

New  Zealand 

Total 


Communicants. 

Adherents. 

1,650,000 

5,700,000 

170,000 

600,000 

I  I,O0O 

40,000 

6,250 

20,000 

7,5°° 

20,000 

1,1 10,000 

3,500,000 

67,000 

240,000 

143,000 

400,000 

115,000 

400,000 

15,000 

70,000 

40,000 

2,100,000 

7,000 

25,000 

850,000 

1,300,000 

2,500,000 

20,000 

70,000 

8,000 

20,000 

1,500 

5,000 

1,700,000 

140,000 

400,000 

9,000 

25,000 

2,500 

6,000 

23,000 

300,000 

35,000 

120,000 

3.7°° 

10,000 

19,000 

60,000 

20,536,000 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   COMMUNION.  535 

DOCTRINAL    STANDARDS. 

There  is  no  one  creed  or  confession  which  is  accepted 
as  the  Standard  of  Doctrine  by  all  the  Presbyterian 
and  Reformed  Churches  in  the  Alliance.  This  is  not 
because  they  do  not  agree  as  to  the  essentials  of  the 
Calvinistic  faith,  but  because  they  originated  in  differ- 
ent lands  and  under  varying  circumstances.  The  first 
of  the  Reformed  Creeds  in  order  of  time,  the  Gallican 
Confession,  adopted  in  1559,  is  the  Confession  of  the 
French  Reformed  Church.  The  Reformed  Churches 
of  Dutch  origin,  whether  in  Holland,  America,  Asia,  or 
Africa,  thirteen  in  number,  all  adhere  to  the  Heidelberg 
Confession  and  the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort. 
The  Reformed  Churches  of  the  Austrian  Empire,  four 
in  number,  accept  the  Second  Helvetic  Confession  and 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  The  Presbyterian  Churches, 
technically  so  called  in  Great  Britain,  Canada,  the 
United  States  of  America,  Brazil,  Australia,  etc.,  nearly 
forty  in  number,  adhere  to  the  Westminster  Confession, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  (For  its  doctrinal  position  see  its  special  chap- 
ter.) The  remaining  Reformed  and  Presbyterian 
Churches  have  their  separate  Creeds.  The  General 
Council  of  the  Alliance,  held  in  Belfast  in  1884,  con- 
sidered the  advisability  of  framing  a  Consensus  or 
Common  Creed  for  all  the  Churches,  but  decided  that 
the  way  was  not  clear  at  that  time  for  such  a  movement. 
In  1890,  however,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  on  a  Consensus  Creed,  which 
Committee  is  conducting  correspondence  on  the  subject 
with  all  the  Denominations  interested. 


536  PRESBYTERIANS. 

INFLUENCE    OF    THE    PRESBYTERIAN    SYSTEM. 

This  sketch  would  also  be  incomplete  without  refer- 
ence to  the  principal  effects  upon  the  welfare  of  man- 
kind of  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  and  the  Presbyterian 
government.  In  brief,  it  can  be  said  that  the  Presby- 
terian system  has  uniformly  elevated  both  the  moral 
character  of  individuals  and  nations,  has  secured  for  all 
persons  religious  liberty,  has  won  and  maintained 
popular  rights  as  against  tyranny,  has  advanced  in  a 
conspicuous  manner  the  cause  of  education,  has  illus- 
trated in  a  marked  way  the  principle  of  self-sacrifice  by 
furnishing  the  great  majority  of  martyrs  to  Christianity 
since  the  Reformation,  and  has  evoked  persistent 
enthusiastic  effort  in  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions. 
One  of  the  strongest  reasons  for  cherishing  a  large  and 
ever  increasing  hope  for  the  future  of  the  world  lies  in 
the  increase  in  numbers  of  those  who  maintain  this  sys- 
tem. In  almost  every  country  and  on  every  continent 
two  great  communions  confront  each  other,  the  Roman 
and  the  Reformed.  The  first  is  representative  of  the 
tyranny  of  priests,  the  other  of  the  liberty  of  the 
gospel ;  the  one  owns  allegiance  to  the  Pope  at  Rome, 
the  other  is  constrained  by  the  obedience  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  past  history  of  the  Reformed  Churches 
is  the  guarantee  of  the  coming  universal  triumph  of  the 
principles  they  maintain. 


INDEX. 


AcADEMiESand  Colleges  vs.  Professional  Schools, 
271  ;  Finley  at  Nottingham — Evans  at  Peneader 
— Andrews  at  Philadelphia — Others  at  New 
London — Faggs  Manor — Pequa,  256  ;  In  the  Last 
Century,  256;  Under  Early  Southern  Pastors, 
481  ;  vs.  Colleges,  256 

Adams,  John   Quincy,  on    "  Election   Sermons," 

io7 
Adjusting  Church  Machinery  to  new  Conditions 

on  Reunion,  235 
Adopting  Act,  89 

Adoption  of  the  Revised  Book  of  Discipline,  243 
Africa,  Churches  of,  531 
A/rico- American  Presbyterian,  347 
Alexander,  Dr.  Arch.,  165  ;  Elected   Professor  in 

Theological   Seminary,   273  ;    Sermon   in   1808, 

159. 

Algeria,  531 

Allegheny  Seminary,  275 

Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches,  357,  533 

Amendments  Destroying  Calvinistic  System  For- 
bidden, 372  ;  Proposed  by  Revision  Committee, 
376 

American  Churches,  524 

American  Bible  Society,  314 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  and  its  Origin — First  Missionaries — 
Indorsed  by  the  Assembly,  299  :  and  New  School 
Church,  204  ;   Organized  in  Massachusetts,  290 

American  Home  Missionary  Society  and  American 
Educational  Society,  Condemned  and  Excluded 
from  Presbyterian  Churches,  180 

A.  H.  M.  S.  and  New  School  Church,  204  ;  and 
a  N.  S.  Conference  Committee,  211  ;  Depend  on 
their  Own  Agents  not  on  NT.  S.  Presbyterians, 
206  ;  Insists  on  Being  the  Exclusive  Channel  of 
N.  S.  Mission  Work,  207  ;  Known  as  a  Congre- 
gational Society,  206 

American  Sunday  School  Union  and  its  Resources, 

353. 

American  Tract  Society  and  its  Income,  353 

Andrews,  Rev.  Jedediah,  69-77 

Andovcr  Seminary  to  offset  Harvard  Uni- 
tarianism,  142 

Anne  and  Act  of  Security,  55  ;and  Her  Ministers, 
77;  and  Toleration,  99 

Anselm,  512 

Anti-Revisionists  after  Appointment  Committee, 
372 

Apostles  Familiar  with  Synagogues,  28 

Apostolic  Missions  were  Transitory,  and  Why,   ;i 9 

Apostolic  Succession,  34 

Arbitration  Inforced,  82;  in  Judicial  Commissions, 
241 

Arian  Heresy,  J23 

Arianism  in  Britain,  88 

Arkansas  College,   Batesville,  Ark.,  504 

Arminian  Controversy,  516 

Arminianism  and  Calvinism,  403 

Asia,  Churches  of,  530 

Assembly  Election  of  Theological  Professors,  Ad- 
vantages and  Disadvantages,  393;  First  Meeting 
— Address  to  Washington,  137  ;  and  Theological 


Professors  at  the  Reunion,  386;  Has  its  first 
Meeting  the  year  of  the  organization  of  the  Pres- 
ent Government,  137;  Hold  an  Adjourned  Meet- 
ing, 210;  N.  S.,  Raises  the  Balance  of  $100,000 
Erection  Fund,  216  ;  of  1835  and  Plan  it  I  nion 
and  its  Abrogation,  176;  of  1838  opened  by  \)r. 
Elliot,  182  ;  of  1846  N.  S.— Slavery  Question- 
Missions  in,  208  ;  of  1852  N.  S. — Eastern  and 
Western   Parties,  211 

Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  South,  527 

Associate  Synod  of  N.  A.,  527 

Astruc,  Jean,  and  his  "Conjectures,"  378 

Atlanta  Conference  of  Presbyterians,  485 

Auburn  Convention,  177  ;  Declaration,  201  ; 
Seminary,   275 

Augusta,  General  Assembly,  485 

Augustine,  512 

Austin  Theological  School,  Texas,  501 

Australasia,  Churches  of,  53^ 

Australian  Churches,  532 

Austria,  Reformed  Churches  of,  518 

Bala,  Svnod,  524 

Balch,  Rev.   James,  454 

Balch,   Rev.  S.  B.,  117 

Baltimore  Synod,  Unites  with  Southern  Church, 
492 

Bancroft,  Archbishop,  and  his  Intolerance,  62 

Banner  at  Pittsburgh,  the  Oldest  Religious  News- 
paper, 345 

Barnes,    Dr.   Albert,  186,  187 

Barrow  ism    or  Presbyterian   Puritanism,  61 

Baxter  of  Washington  College,  Va.,  501 

Beard,  Rev.  Richard,  D.  D.,  473 

Beecher,  Dr.  Lyman, and  his  Trial — Called  to  Lane 
Seminary,  Pastor  of  Second  Church,  185  ;  on 
Dueling,  162  ;  Opposes  New  Measures  in  Kin- 
ney's Revivals,  176  ;  on  Temperance,  161 

Belgic  Confession,  516 

Belgium,  518 

Bennett's  Colony  of  Puritans,  62 

Berkeley,  Gov.,  Expels  Puritans  from  Virginia,  6a 

Bernaid  of  Clairvaux,  512 

Beza,  Theodore,  the  Committee  of  Twelve  and 
their  Plea  for  Protestants,  1 

Bible  and  its  Publication  and  Circulation— Amer- 
ican Bible  Society,  ii^ 

Bibleandits  Publication  in  the  First  Assembly,  138 

Bible,  Revision  of,  by  American  Bible  S01 

Bible  scarce  in  Colonial  Times — Printing  Impossi- 
ble, 141 

Bible  Society  and  its  Resources— Presbyterian 
Contributors,  353 

Biddle  University,  283 

Bishops,  Pastors,  Ministers.  Angels,  33 

Blai  kburn  and  Indian  Missi 

Boards,  First  '  >rigin  of,  79;  Grow  oul  of  the 
"  Fund  (or  Pious  Uses,"  »88 ;  Of  Missions,  1st; 
'  >t  the  Cumberland  Church,  ^73  ;  Or  Commit- 
tees—Power  of.  289;  I'Ih'  Pivol  of  Division, 
188  ;  Urged  a    Controlled  by  the   \    embly,  177 

"Bodily  Exercises"  Explained,  150;  opposed,  ad- 
vocated, 146 


538 


INDEX. 


Bohemian  Church,  38 

Bohemia,  Reformed  Church  of,  518 

Book  Business  Pays  its  own  Way,  316 

Book  of  Discipline  Revised,  242 

Books,  Reading,  and  General  Improvement, 
312 

Boundary  Question  on  Union  of  Old  Synods, 
112 

Boyd,  Rev.  John,  Ordained  at  Preehold,  68 

Bradwardine,  512 

Brainard,  John,  and  Indian  Missions,  298 

Brazil,  Japan,  and  Native  Presbyterian  Churches, 
306  ;  Presbyterian  Churches   of,  244,  52q 

Breckinridge,  Dr.  R.  J.,  Organized  Danville  Semi- 
nary, 279 

Brevard,  Dr.  E  ,  Prepares  Mecklenburg  Declara- 
tion, 115 

Briggs  and  Union  Seminary,  380  ;  Trial,  382; 
Assembly  Veto,  38;' 

British  Christianity,  36 

Brownism,  or  Congregational  Puritanism,  61 

Burke,  Edmund,  on  Election  Sermons,  107 

Burr,  Rev.  Aaron,  President  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, 258 

Butler,  Charles,  Donation  to  Union  Seminary,  380 

Caldwell,  David,  of  North  Carolina,  166 
Caldwell  of  Elizabethtown,    117 
Call  to  the  Ministry,  81 

Calvin  Described  by  Bancroft,  Introduction,  5 
Calvin,  John,  40,  513 
Calvin's  Institutes  and  Leadership.  41 
Calvinism,  its  Influence  and  Introduction,  6 ;  and 
Mission   Work,    199  ;  as  Estimated   by  Others, 

36i.   . 

Calvinistic  Methodist,  523  ;  System,  512 

Camp  Meetings,  145,  454  ;  and  Basket  Meetings, 
320 

Canada,  Presbyterian  Churches  in,  528 

Candidates    for  the  Ministry,  309 

Canmore  of  Scotland  and  Culdees,  37 

Carey,  Rev.  Wm.,  and  his  Mission  Revival,  143  ; 
Sermon  on  Missions — First  Foreign  Mission 
Society,  289 

Carlisle  Presbytery  Tries  Dr.  Duffield,  185 

Cartwright  and  Presbyterianism  in  England,  47 

Catholicism  and  America,  58  ;  and  Climate,  58 

Cavaliers,  52 

Caxton  Introduces  Printing  in  England,  39 

"  Centenary  Fund"  and  Ministerial  Relief,  327 

Central  University,  502 

Central  West  of  Omaha,  347 

Chalmers,  Thomas,  521 

Charles  I.  Characterized — and  Laud — and  his  Par- 
liament, 49  ;  and  Popular  Support,  98 

Charles  II.,  Puritans  and  Presbyterians,  52 

Charles  V.,  of  Germany,  40 

Chesapeake  Bay  Commission  of  U.  S.  Government, 
127- 

Children's  Day  and  its  Collections,  318 

"Christian  Commission,"  154,  218;  and  its  Dele- 
gates, 355 

"  Christian  Endeavor"  and  Presbyterians,  355 

Christianity  and  the  Synagogues,  28 

Christian  Reformed  Church,  516 

Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  342 

Church  Buildings  Essential  to  Real  Success,  320 

Church  Buildings  Needed,  210 

Church  Erection  and  $100,000  Fund  of  the  N.  S. 
Church,  322;  Headquarters  Located  at  St.  Louis, 
322  ;  Mortgages  bear  no  Interest  and  may  be 
Canceled  by  Collections,  322  ;  Outside  of  the 
Board's  Work,  324 

Church  Erection  Fund  in  Early  Times  for  Perth 
Amboy,  N.  J.,  and  Salem,  Mass.,  320 

Church  Extension  Society,  212  ;  $100,000  Scheme 
and  its  Success,  216 


Church  Government  and  Civil  Law,  396 

Church  is  Itself  a  Mission  Society,  287,  301 

Church  Unity,  356 

Circuits  P2stablishedby  Revival  Preachers,  456 

Circumcision  and  Christianity,  30 

Civil  Courts  and  Church  Governments,  397 

Clark,  Rev.  F.  E.,  "  Father"  ofY.  P.  S.C.  E.,  355 

Cleaveland   of  Detroit  Reads  a  Paper  and  Moves 

that  Dr.  Beman  Preside  at  the  Division,  183 
Clinton  College,  505 
"  Close  Corporations,"  Lane  Seminary  and  Union, 

N.  Y.,  277 
College  Aid   Board,  Organized  in  1883— Its  Chris- 
tian  Motives,  332  ;   Develops    Local    Contribu- 
tions and  Gives  Confidence,  333  ;    Its  First  Plans 
— Present  Methods,  325 
College     Aid — Parochial     Schools — Academies — 

Free  Schools,  330 
College  Fund — Amount  Needed  to  Establish,  275 
College,  Cumberland,  473 
Colleges  Early   Founded — Thirteen  before  A.  D. 

1800,  256 
College  Education  and  its  Importance,  308 
Colleges  Established,  170 
Colleges  Multiplied,  170 

Colleges  Needed  to  Supply  Students  to  Theologi- 
cal Seminaries,  336 
College  Revivals,  171 

Collections   for  Church  Erection   from  Churches 
that  Have  Been  Helped,  323  ;  for  the  Fund,  79 
Collins's  Bible,  314 

Colonial  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  530 
Colonies'  Varied  Constitutions,  100 
Colored  Church  Members  Before  the  War  of  1861, 

328 
Colored  Church  Members  of  Cumberland  Church, 

408,  475 
Colored  Evanglization   in  the  Southern   Church, 

497 

Colporters  and  Missions,  Colporters  and  Church, 
not  Book  Peddlers,  316 

Columba,  37,  519 

Columbia  Seminary,  501 

Commentary — Presbyterian,  198 

Commissions,  Judicial,  241 

Commissions  on  Judicial  Cases,  196 

Commission  with  the  Power  of  Synod,  81 

The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  459 

Committeemen  as  Members  of  the  Assembly, 
173   . 

Committee  of  Benevolence  and  Board  of  Finances 
of  U.  P.,  442 

Communion,  Terms  of,  in  U.  P.,  404 

Confederation,  the  Articles  of,  not  Sufficient, 
123 

Conference  of  the  Presbyterians  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States,  192 

Confession  of  Faith,  Westminster,  367,  462  ;  Cum- 
berland, 471 

Congregational  Associations,  Decline  further  Con- 
ference with  Committee  of  the  N.  S.  Assembly, 

2I4 
Congregationalists    and    Presbyterians   in    Early 

Missions,  155 
Congregationalism  in  New  England,  63 
Congregational  Libraries,  Parsonages  and  Glebes, 

3X3 

Consensus  Creed,  535  ;  and  Committee,  358 

Consolidation  of  Boards,  237 

Constantine,  36 

Constitution.  New  Draft  Sent  Down  to  the  Presby- 
teries, 125 

Constitutional  Convention  Called  by  Congress, 
128 

Controversies  among  Denominations  very  Rare, 
360  ;  in  Modern  American  Church,  365 

Convention   of   O.    S.   before   Assembly  of   1835, 


[NDEX. 


539 


176  ;  Convention  of  O.  S.  before  Assembly  of 
1837,  178 

Convention  of  Presbyterians  ami  (  ongregational- 
ists  at  Elizabeth,  105 

Convention — Presbyterian  National  Union  al 
Philadelphia,  221 

Convention    of  1837,   17S 

Cooke,  Henry,  523 

Cornbury  and  his  Services,  100  ;  and  Makemie,  74 

Cornwallis's   Surrender,  123 

Council  at  Jerusalem,  -;i 

Councils.  General,  of  Presbyterian  Alliance,  533 

Courts  of  Church  and  State  Liable  to  Err,  399 

Covenanters,  The,  413,  424  ;  Covenant  Renewed, 
419;  Missions,  41S  ;  Societies,  415;    Synod,  4m 

Covenanting  in  Moses'  Time,  413 

Craighead,  Rev.  Thos.  B.,  457 

Craighead's  Paper,  83 

Craven,  Dr.  E.  R.,  and  the  Revised  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline, 242 

Criticism,  Textual  and  Higher,  377 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  51 

Cromwell,  Richard,  52 

1  ss,  Rev.  Robt.,  Offers  a  Protest  against  the 
New  Brunswick   Men,  93 

Culdees,  The,  37,510;  and  Margaret  the  Saxon,  37 

Cumberland  College,  473 

Cumberland  Presbyterians,  147  ;  and  their  Pe- 
culiarities, 406;  Aggressive  Spirit,  468  ;  Causes 
of  Opposition,  455;  Church  Recognized,  149,  451; 
Doctrinal  Position,  471  ;  First  Presbytery,  467  ; 
Growth  and  Spirit,  477;  Originated  in  a  Revival, 
4s 3  ;  Publication  and  Periodicals,  474  ;  Schools, 

473 

Cumberland  Presbytery — Appeal  to  the  Assem- 
bly, 148;  Organized,  Dissolved,  147;  Reorganized, 
149 

Cumberland  Presbytery,  New,  451,  457,  458 

Synod,  467 

Danville  Seminary,  and  the  Kentucky  Offer,  279 

David  and  the  Elders,  26 

Davidson  College,  N.  C,  503 

"  Days  of  Makemie  "  by  Bowen,  74 

Deacons,  396  ;  Females  elected,  419 

Declaration  and  Testimony,  193,  493 

Declaratory  Act  of  U.  P.  Church  of  Scotland,  521 

Deism,  365 

Delegates  Allowed  to  Vote  and  then  the  Privilege 

Withdrawn,  173 
Delegated   Assembly  Suggested,  124 
Delegate  Ratios  in  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  240 
Delegated  Synods,  81,  240 

Demand   for  Ministers  Increased  by  Revivals,  272 
Denominations    Co-operating    During    the   War, 

218  ;  Influence  Each  Other,  Introduction,  15 
Denominational     Boards    Advocated,    175;    Mis- 
sions—Rise in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  301 
I  ''in  .11,  Rev.  Rii  hard,  64 
Detroit,  Resolution  of  N.  S.  Assembly,  209 
Derry,  Siege  of,  53 
Dexter  on  Puritan  Independency,  63 
Dickinson,  Rev.  Jonathan,  President  of  Princeton 

College,  258 
Dickinson  and   Other  Able  Men  in  New  Side,  93 
Dickinson  College,  273 
Difficulties  in  the  Way  of  Reunion  of  Old  Synods, 

108,  no  ;  of  Inspiration,  386  ;  of  Scriptures,  378 

1  >ige-,l"   I  irsi    Propi  .sed,    171 
"Directory   for  Worship"  and   the  New  Chapter 

on  the  "  Worship  of  God  by  offerings,"  338 
Discipline,  New   1 '.00k  Adopted,  197;  Revision  of 

the  Book,  242 
Dissenters — Encouraged  by  Success,  97 
Division  into  Old  School  and  New  Appearing,  172 
Division  of  Synod  Actually  Occurs,  94 
Division,  Causes  of,  172 


Division  in  the  Civil  Courts  and  Contradictory 
I  lecisions,  184  :  Lines  of  Various  Questions 
Concerning,  176  ;  Of  Synod,  94 

Doctrinal  Agitation  in  Britain,  88;  Basis,  alone 
a  Basis  for  Reunion,  223;  Difference  in  Parties, 
in  Great  Revival  of  1800,  146;  Differences  not 
the  Cause  of  the  Division  into  Old  and  New 
School,  184,  200;  Errors  Condemned,  181;  Unity, 

*"• 
Doctrine,  Presbyterian,  51 1 

Doctrines  and   Mission   Work,  tog;  of  Cumber- 
land, 470 
I  )oi  t.  Canons  of,  535  ;  Synod  of,  43 
Doughty,  Francis,  65 
Drunkenness  at  Funerals,  141. 
Dubuque,  German  Theological  Seminary,  282 
Duelling,  141  ;  and  Assembly's  action,  162 
Duffield,   Dr.   Geo.,  185 

East  End  Platform,  423 

Edersheim  on  "'  Great  Synagogue,"  26 

Edict  of  Nantes,  43 

Edinburgh  Council,  533 

F^ditor's  Weekly  Audience  and  Influence,  348 

Education,  254 

Educational  Statistics,  266 

Education  and  the  Ministry,  146,  472,  498  ;  and 
the  Board,  307:  Board,  Presbyterian.  308;  Cum- 
berland, 474;  Dr.  Green's  paper,  158;  In  Script- 
ure, 254;  Of  Ministers,  86;  Policy  and  its  Critics, 
311  ;  Presbyterian  System  and,  536;  Statistics, 
265-267 

Elder,  25 

Elders  at  the  Ordination  of  Ministers,  190 

Elders'  Duties  Defined  by  the  Bible,  32 

Elders  or  Assistants  Advised,  71 

Election,  402 

Election  Sermons,  107 

Elizabeth  and  Presbyterian  Republicanism,  132 

and  St    Bartholomew,  46 

Beheads  Mary  of    Scotland    and   Punishes 

Davison,  46 

Elizabeth,  N. J.,  Convention  against  State  Episco- 
pacy, 105 

Ellinwood,  Dr.  F.  F.,  Elected  Secretary  of  the 
Memorial  Fund,  232 

Elliot,  Dr.  David,  Moderator,  Elected  in  1837,   178; 
as    Moderator    in    1838    Rules  out    New    g. 
Delegates — Refuses     to    Entertain    Motion     to 
Enroll— Refuses    to    Allow   an   Appeal   to   the 
House,  182 

Elliot  and  Barnes  Survive  the  Disruption  and  Re- 
joice in  the  Reunion,  187 

Elliot  and  Brainard  among  the  Indians,  298 

England,  Presbyterian  Church  of,  521 

English  Confession,  522 

English  Presbytery — First  meeting,  46 

Episcopalian  Address  to  the  People,  106 

Flpiscopacy,  34  ;  and  Articles  of  Perth,  54  ;  Dis- 
couraged with  this  Country.  97  ;  Desired  by  Eng- 
lish and  Petitioned  for  in  America,  104  ;  Estab- 
lished in  South  Carolina,  104 

Erection,  Hoard  of,  Helps  Permanent  Work,  319; 
Church,  First  Organized  in  O.  S.  Church,  188 

Europe,  Reformed  (  hurdles  of,  ,1  ; 

Evangelical  Alliance  and  the  Week  of  Prayer,  198; 
and  Ration  ili  itii    Criticism,  379 

I  wing,  Rev.  Finis,  451 

Exei  utive  Administration  and  the  Expense,  249 

I  CUtive  Committees  of  Presbyterian  Church, 
South, 411 

Expenses  of  the  Assembly,  246 

Exploring  Missionai  i< 

Exscinding  Acl  and  Western  Reserve  Synod, 
174-182 

I  mded  Synods, Delegates  Refused  Enrollment, 
182 


54Q 


INDEX. 


"  Falling  Exercises,"  91  ;  and  "  Bodily  Exer- 
cises," 149 

Falling  from  Grace,  403 

Fatalism  Charged  on  the  Confession  of  Faith,  147; 
Excepted  to  by  Cumberlands,  462 

Federal  Union  of  Reformed  Churches  in  America, 

427  ... 

Federation  of  Churches,  358  ;  of  Similar  Denomina- 
tions, 156 

Female  Education,  268 

Finney,  Dr.,  and  Revivals,  176 

First  Meeting  of  Synod,  its  Numbers  and  Finances, 

77.  78 

First    Presbytery,  68 

Scotch  Assembly,  54 

Fisher,  Dr.  S.,  Made  Moderator  at  Division,   183 

Dr.   D.  W.,  244 

Foreign  Board  Organized  and  Subsequent  Growth, 
302 

Foreign  Mission  Board  Established,  181  ;  and 
Present  Statistics,  306  ;  and  the  Reunion,  304  ; 
Transferred  from  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  to  Presbyte- 
rian Board,  305  ;    Presbyterian   Churches,  244 

Southern  Church,  494 

Form  of  Government,  and  U.  S.  Constitution,  136 

France,  Reformed  Church,  513 

Francis  I.,  of  France,  and  Calvin's  Institutes,  40 

Freedmen  and  Mission,  328 

Freedmen's  Board  Does  All  Sorts  of  Mission 
Work,  329 

Newspaper,  347 

Schools  and  Theological  Training,  282 

Freedmen  and  Work  among  them,  193 

Freedom  in  Planning  Educational  Institutions, 
278 

Freehold,  Rev.  John  Boyd  Ordained  at,  68 

French  Infidelity  Popular,  139 

"  Fund  for  Pious  Uses,"  79  ;  an  Incipient  Board, 
288  ;  as  a  Relief  Fund  for  Aged  Ministers,  325 

Gallican  Confession,  535 

General  Assembly  at  Jerusalem,  31  ;  Cumberland, 
468  ;  First,  in  Egypt.  25  ;  in  France,  42 

Genesee  and  Geneva  Synods  Cut  Off,  180 

Geneva,  513 

German  Theological  Seminaries,  282 

Germany,  Reformed  Churches  of,  515 

Givers  and  their  Gifts— Systematic  and  Thought- 
ful Giving,  338 

Glasgow  Collection,  80 

Glendy  and  Inglis  of  Baltimore,  165 

God  in  the  Constitution,  421 

Government  of  Congregation  in  Session,  396 

Government,  Presbyterian  Principles  of,  512 

Grace,  Doctrines  of,  511 

Great  Britain,  Churches  of,  519 

Green,  Dr.  Ashbel,  on  Education,  158  ;  President 
of  Princeton,  165 

Grimke,  Dr.  F.  J.,  of  Washington  City,  D.  C.,284 

Growth  of  American  Presbyterianism,  122 

of  Cumberland  Church,  468 

Gurley's  Resolutions  on  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony, 194 

"  Half-Way  Covenant,"  142 

Hamilton,  Alex.,  and  Form  of  Government,  134 

College,  264 

Hamilton,  Killed  in  a  Duel,  162 

Hampden-Sidney  College,  502 

Hampton,  John,  67,  69 

Hanover  College  and  Theological  Seminary,  278 

Harvard  College.  256 

Hatfield,  Mr.  E.  F.,  and  Statistics  of  N.  S.  Church, 

216 
Hawe,  Rev.  James,  457 
Haystack  Prayer  Meeting  and  Foreign  Missions, 

299 


Heidelberg  Catechism,  516,  535 

Helvetic  Confession,  Second,  535 

Hempstead,  Long  Island,  64 

Henry  VIII. — Divorces — Anne  Boleyn,  40,  44 

Hepburn,  J.  C,  531 

Herald  and  Presbyter,  347 

Higher  Criticism,  377 

Historic  Episcopate,  356 

History  of  the  Church — Materials  Gathered,  171 

Hoge,  Dr.  Charles,  484 

Rev.  Samuel,  466 

Rev.  William,  466 

Hodge,  Dr.  Moses,  of  Hampden-Sidney,  165 
Holland,    Protestantism    in,    43  ;     the    Reformed 

Churches  of,  516 
Holy  Spirit,  Revised  Section  of  Confession  on,  375 
Home    Board,    Its    Organization,     Location   and 

Officers,  Statistics,  290  ;  and  Old  Methods,  296 
Homes  for  the  Aged  and  the  Orphans,  349 
Home  vs.  Foreign  Work,  296 
Home    Missions,  290  ;    Beginning   of  Board,    71  ; 

And  Church  Erection  at  first  United — Separate 

Boards  Needed,  301 
Committee   in    the   Early   Church,  291  ;  a 

Continental    Work,  297  ;    Everywhere — Motive 

for  the  Reunion,  293  ;  a  Taking  Name,  215 
Hopkinsianism,  175 

Hospitals  and  Orphanages,  349  ;  List  of  them,  351 
Huguenots,    42  ;    in  Brazil,  529 ;    in  England  and 

America,  77,  78 
Hughes,  Rev.  Lewes,  61. 
Hungary,  Reformed  Church  of,  516 
Huss  and  Bohemia,  38 

Immigration  after  the  Revolution,  139 

Independency,  34 

Indian  Missions,  297,  469 

Infidelity  Agressive,  142  ;  Denounced  by  the  As- 
sembly, 140 ;  In  Medical  and  Law  Colleges, 
262  ;  Quickens  Religion,  143 

Infidel  Organizations — In  Yale  College,  140 

Inglis  and  Glendy  of  Baltimore,  165 

Inspiration,  382  ;  Verbal,  383  ;  Plenary,  383  ;  Con- 
ceptual, 384 

Interdenominational  Comity  in  the  Early  Church, 
292 

Interior  of  Chicago,  347 

Ipso  Facto  Resolutions,  194 

Ireland.  Earls  of  Tyrone  and  Tyrconnel,  48 

Presbyterian  Churches  of,  523  ;  Presby- 
tery of,  Scotch  Chaplains,  55 

Irish  Bishops  and  Elders,  37 

Irish  Ordinations  Objected  to,  86 

Irish  Protestantism,  effect  on  People,  58 

■ —  Rebellion,  1641,  523 

Synod  and  the  Act  of  Toleration,  78 

Italy,  Free  Christian  Church  of,  517  ;  Reforma- 
tion in,  517 

Itineracy  by  System,  210 

Itinerant  Missionaries,  290 

Itinerant  Pastors  on  Mission  Tours,  143,  155,  288 

Jackson,  Gen.  Andrew,  Chairman  of  Committee 
to  Locate  Western    Theological  Seminary,  276 

Jamaica,  Long  Island,  65 

W.  I.,  Presbyterian  Church  of,  529 

James's  Bible,  47 

James  I.,  47 

James  II.  and  his  Persecutions,  77 

Jamestown  Colony  and  Puritan  Settlers.  61 

Japan,  Presbytery  of  United  Church  of  Christ 
in,  531  ;  Cumberland  Missions,  475 

Japanese  Presbyterian  Church,  244 

Jefferson  on  N.  C.  Delegates  in  Congress,  128 

Joseph  II.  of  Austria,  516 

Joshua  and  his  Elders,  25 

Judicial  Business  and  Judicial  Committees,  239  ; 


INDEX. 


541 


Commission  for  Special  Cases,  196  ;  Commis- 
sion, Permanent,  Proposed — Rejected,  [96; 
Trials  next  to  impossible  now  in  General  As- 
sembly, 196 

Rank.  Thos.,  "  Layman,"  and  Systematic  Bene- 
ficence, 339 

Kansas  Hand,  293 

Keith,  Kev.  George,  a  Scotch  Nonconformist  at 
Elizabeth  City,  61 

Kemper,  Mr.  Klnathan,  Donates  Land  for  Lane 
Seminary,  276 

Kentucky  Awakening,  1  \6 

Kentucky  Judicatories  Divided,   194 

Kentucky  Synod  and  Cumberland  Presbytery, 
M7.  -157 

Kid, lie  and  Schem's  Cyclopedia  of  Education, 
261 

Kingsbury  and  Indian  Missions,  299 

King  College,  504 

Knox,  John,  38,  45 

Knox  and  Scotch  Leaders,  57 

Korea,  530 

Ladd,  of  Portland,  Contributes  to  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Theological  Seminary,  282 

Laggan  Presbytery,  66 

Lake  Forest  University,  265 

Lane, Mr.  Ebenezer,  Offers  Contributions  to  Found 
a  Theological  -eminary  at  Cincinnati,  276 

Laying  "ii  of   Hands,  190 

"  Layman"  Thomas  Kane  and  Tithing,  339 

Laymen  on  Reunion,  218 
.Lafayette  College,  265 

Lexington,  Mo.,  Presbytery  and  Slaveholding,  209 

Liberality  of  Presbyterians,  353 

Lincoln  and  Education,  255 

Lincoln    University,  Pa.,    283  ;  C.   P.  Illinois,  458 

Liquor,  and  its  Fertility  in  all  Vice,  341 

Lithuania,  Reformed  Church  of,  518 

Litigation  Discouraged,  83 

Liturgy,  Reformed,  526 

"  L  ig   College,"  90 

Log  Colleges  and  Early  Ministers,  331 

Log  College  at  Neshaminy,  256 

London  Council,  533 

Lot  and  Lotteries,  82 

Luther,  Martin,  39,  512;  and  Church  Govern- 
ment, 40 

Lutheran  Church,  515 

Lyle,  Rev.  John,  465 

Lyon,  James,  528 

Madison,  James,  a  Princeton  Graduate,  133 

Magna  Charta,  98 

Makemie,  Francis,  Comes  to  Puritans  in  Mary- 
land, 63  ;  Makemie  Described,  His  Preaching, 
75 

Makemie's  Daughter,  and  Her  Patriotic  Will, 
75;  Makemie's  Death  and  Work— Tried  by 
Cornbury,  69,  74,  75  ;  Makemie's  Education, 
255  ;   Makemie's   Memorial  and  Grave,  76 

Massai  re  of  Missionaries,  197 

Martin,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.,  of  the  Chinese  Imperial 
University,  307 

Martyrs,  Presbyterian,  536 

Mary,  Bloody,  45 

Mayhew's  Sermon  at  Union  Services — Suggestion 
of  Union  of  States,  106 

McCormick,  C.  H  ,  Offers  $100,000  to  Locate  a 
Seminary  at  Chicago"-- Its  Name  Changed   279 

McCosh,  James,  553 

McFarland,  Dr.  S.  G  —President  King's  College, 
>iam,  307 

Mi  Millan,  Dr.  John,  Patriarch  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania, 165  ;  and  "  Palling  Exercises,"  14^ 

Mi  Uillan's  Log  Academy,  257 


Mai  nish,  George,  67,  6g.  77  ;  at  Jamaica,  64 
Mecklinburg  Declaration,  114,  480:  and  Jefferson, 

128 
Medical  Colleges,  262 
Memorial  Fund  of  Five  Million — Odd  Objects  of 

Gifts,  232 

Messianic  Prophecy,  385 

Methodist,  Calvinistic,  523 

Mexico,  529  ;  Cumberland  Missions,  473 

McGee,  Rev.  William,  455,  457 

Michigan,  Reformed  Church  in,  526 

Mid- Continent  of  St.  Louis,    ;i7 

Miller,  Dr.  Samuel,  165;  Elected  Professor,  273 

Mills,  Mr.  T.  A.,  211 

Milton,  Cromwell  and  Waldenses,  51 

Ministers  called  for,  289  ;  as  College  Professors, 
265  ;  Driven  from  England,  78;  Killed  during  the 
Revolution,  117;   Multiplied,  171 

Ministerial  Education,  86,  210  ;  Insurance  Pro- 
ject, 325  ;  Relief  and  Andrew's  case,  325  ;  Re- 
lief and  Lay  Missionaries,  327  ;  Support  Urged, 
'59 

Ministry,  Parity  of,  34,  512 

Mission  Work  and  Afflictions,  197 

Mission  Work  and  Calvinism,  199 

Mission  Work,  Fruits  of,  Gathered  by  Congrega- 
tionalists,  174 

Missions,  Chapter  on,  by  Revision,  368 

—  Cumberland  Church,  to  Indians,  469 

Missions  Demand  More  Time  of  the  Assembly, 
Permanent  Committees  Appointed,  152  ;  Crow- 
to  National  Churches,  244  ;  in  Synods  of 
Carolinas  and  Virgina,  154  ;  Judicatories 
Divided,  Rice's  Overture,  286-87;  to  the 
Heathen  First  Organized,  289  ;  Widespread  by 
the  Oreat  Revival,  152 

Missionaries,  Freeman,  Campbell,  McMullan, 
Johnson,  Murdered,  197  ;  Get  but  Small  Pay, 
143  ;  in  the  First  Assembly,  13S  ;  in  Increasing 
Numbers,  154;  Foreign,  in  the  Estimation  of  the 
Natives,  306 

Missionary  Motives  of  the  Early  Colonists,  297  ; 
Resolutions  in  First  Presbytery,  7,.  ;  Publica- 
tions Consolidated  in  1SS6,  342  ;  Sacrifices  of 
Men  and  Women,  14  ; 

Missouri  Judicatories,  Divided,  193 

Missouri  Valley  College,  458,  473 

Montgomery,  Alexander,  Contributes  to  the  San 
Francisco  Theological  Seminary,  282 

Moravia,  Reformed  Church  of,  519 

Morgan  and  Dodge,  Enrich  Auburn  Seminary, 
275 

Morrison,  Dr.  J.  H.,  Missionary,  Moderator  in 
1863  ;  Suggests  the  "Week  of  Prayer,"  219 

Mortgages  to  the  Church  Erection  Board,  322 

Mountain  Whites  of  the  South,  296 

National  Reform  Movement,  420 

Native  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Foreign  Fields, 
306 

Nelson,  Dr.  H.  A.,  Editor  Church  at  Home  ami 
Abroad,  i\  1 

New  Albany  Theological  Seminary,  279 

New  Amsterdam,  524 

Newark  Reunion  Convention  avowedly  Favors 
Union,  221 

New  and  Old  Side  Convention,  417 

New  Chapters  of  the  Revision,  375 

New  England  Presbyterians,  60 

New  Haven  Divinity,  175 

New  Hebrides,  Church  of,  533 

New  School  does  not  Change  Confession  of 
Faith,  200:  Doctrinal  Soundness,  200  ;  With- 
draws from  A.  H.  M.  S.  and  Organizes  Inde- 
dendent  Missions,  214  ;  Assailsd  on  Roth  Sides, 
202;  Church,  ami  Estimate  of  lis  Life  by  Its 
Honored     Ministers,     216;     Coldness,     as    to 


542 


INDEX. 


Reunion.  225  ;  In  Conventions,  177;  Churchesin 
the  West  Hampered,  206;  Did  not  Expect 
Division  and  had  no  Plans  or  Church  Ma- 
chinery, 201  ;  Men  Advised  that  They  Must 
Organize  the  Assembly  at  the  Right  Time  and 
Place,  183  ;  Men  Invited  into  Congregational- 
ism and  Back  to  the  O.  S.  Church,  202 ;  Party 
and  Separation,  177  ;  Presbyterian  Church  and 
the  American  Board,  303  ;  Seminaries  neither 
Old  nor  Strong,  201  ;  Synod  of  the  South, 
491 

New  Side  and  Adopting  Act,  no;  and  the 
Revival,  92;  Grows  Rapidly,  in;  Repress 
Itinerating,  95  ;  Synod  Organized,  109 

New  South  Wales,  Church  of,  532 

Newspaper  Circulation  of  the  Church,  347  ;  Dis- 
cussions, 348  ;  Denominational  Character,  198  ; 
Peculiar  and  Religious,  345  ;  Southern  Church, 
506 

New  York  Assemblies  of  1869,  224 

New  York  Evangelist,  347 

New  York,  First  Church  Aided,  80 

New  York  Men  Join  the  New  Side,  94 

New  York  Observer,  347 

New  York,  Revivals  in  Western,  176 

New  Zealand,  Churches  of,  532 

Northern   Presbyterian  Church  Peculiarities,  412 

Northrup,  Judge,  on  Relations  of  Trustees  and 
Elders,  397 

Northwestern  Presbyterian  of  Minneapolis,  347 

Northwestern  Theological  Seminary,  279 

Nott,  Dr.  E.,  of  Union  College,  264 

Nottingham  Sermon  of  Tennent  in  England,  95 

Occident  of  San  Francisco,  347 

Offerings  and  the  Worship  of  God  thereby,  338 

Oldest  Presbyterian  Church,  64 

Old  School  Adopts  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  188  ;  Quite  Denominational,  19S  ;  Ma- 
jority in  1837,  178  ;  Men  Dissatisfied  with  the 
Assembly  of  1836,  178  ;  Men  of  Ability  in  As- 
sembly of  1837  and  Preceding  Convention,  178; 
Moderator  in  1837,  178  ;  Organize  Church  Erec- 
tion Board,  188  ;  Organize  Foreign  Board,  188; 
"  Ministerial  Relief,"  188  ;  Party  and  Separa- 
tion, 177  ;  In  Majority  in  Assembly  of  1837,  178, 
Statistics  at  the  Reunion,  189 

Old  Side  and  the  Revival,  91 

Old  Side  Covenanter  Statistics,  418;  Mission 
Average,  418 

Grows  Slowly,  m 

Omaha  Theological  Seminary,  284 

Ordination  Question,  190 

Ordinations  in  the  Old  Country  Disapproved  of,  86 

Organic  Union  and  What  it  Means,  359 

Origin  of  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  452 

Organization  of  Cumberland  Council,  461  ;  Cum- 
berland Presbytery,  467 

Original  Sin,  402 

Otajo,  Church  of,  533 

Overtures  about  Missions  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church  under  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  303 

Pacific  CoAST,Meetingat  Portland,  252;Theologi- 
cal  Seminary,  281 

Paine's,  Thomas,  Letter  Denouncing  Washington, 
140. 

Palmer,  Dr.  B.  M.,on  Spirituality  of  the  Church, 
486 

Pan-Presbyterian  Alliance,  357 

Papers  and  Periodicals,  Cumberland  Church,   474 

Parity  of  the  Ministry,  34,  512 

Park  College,  265 

Parochial  Schools,  310  ;  and  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, 330 

Patagonia,  529 

Patriotism  among  Native  Christians,  243 


Pauline  Doctrine,  512 

Pentateuch,  Authors,  378 

Peoria  Assembly  and  Reunion,  219 

Percentage   of  the  Income  of  the   Boards  used  for 

Expenses  is  very   Small,  339 
Permanent     Committees    of     the     Assembly    fur 

Minor  Objects,  336 
Permanent  Judicial  Commission,  241 
Persia,  Church  of,  530 
Perth  Amboy,  Home  for  Ministers,  352 
Perth,  Articles  of,  154 
Philanthropies  and  Union  Charities,  Presbyterians 

in,  349 
Philip  11.,  and  Holland,  43 
"  Pittsburgh  Paper"  on  Reunion,  222 
"Plan    of    Union,"    155;  Abrogated  in  1837,   17^ ', 

Churches,  172, 179  ;  Proposed  Abrogated  in  1835, 

176 
Poland,  Evangelical  Church  of,  518 
Polity  and  Doctrine  of  Presbyterians,Introduction, 

13 

Prayer,  Covenant,  453 

Preceptors  for  the  Learned  Professions,  271 

Presbyter,  25 

Presbyterian  Alliance,  533 

Presbyterian  Banner,  347 

Presbyterian  Church  (N.),  Its  Peculiarities,  412 
(S.)  Its  Peculiarities,  409;  Covenanter,  406 
Government  and  U.  S.  Constitution,  136 
Journal  of  Philadelphia,  347;  Ministeis 
Fund,  327  ;  Newspapers,  Twelve  Weeklies, 
346 

Presbyterian,  of  Philadelphia,  347 

Presbyterian  Peculiarities,  395  ;  Polity  Related  to 
its  Doctrine  (Introduction),  13  ;  Population 
in  the  Revolution,  130;  Support  of  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  Work,  354  ;  of  General  Charities,  349  ; 
System,  Effects  of,  536  ;  Workers  among  the  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  Men,  354 

Presbyterianism  Established  in  England,  51  ;  a 
System  of  Government  and  not  of  Doctrine,  32; 
in  Scotland,  53 

Presbyteries  and  Synods  Self-Constituted,  at  first, 
68  ;  First  Formed,  72  ;  List  of  Newly  Organized, 
167 ;  Reconstructed  by  Geographical  Bound- 
aries, 236;  Show  Rapid  Growth,  167 

Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  brought  to- 
gether by  Colonial  Danger,  79  ;  and  Education 
in  Europe  and   America,  255 

Presbytery  Adopting  the  New  Standards,  69  ; 
First,  in  1706,  55  ;  First  Meeting  of,  68 

Princeton  College,  258-261 

Princeton  Seminary,  272-275 

Printing  in  Paris — Bibles,  39 

Prohibition  Amendments,  422 

Property  Rights  prevent  Consolidation,  237 

Prophecy  and  Inspiration,  385 

Protests  against  Exscinding  Acts,  181 

Protest  against   Spring  Resolutions,  192  ;  and    its 

Final  Omission  in  Union  of  Synods,  112 
Psalmody  of    U.   P.  Church,  404  ;  of  Covenanter 

Church,  419 
Publication   Committee,    211  ;     of   the    Southern 

Church,  498 
Publication  House,  Cumberland  Church,  474 
Puritans  and  Restoration  and  Emigration,  52  ; 
Colony  in  Maryland — Randall's  History,  61  ;  in 
New  England,  Robinson,  Brewster  and  Inde- 
pendency, 63  ;  Unity  of  the  Followers  of  Knox 
and  Calvin,  Introduction,  6;  Puritans  in  Virginia, 
61  ;  Victory  in  Maryland,  62 

Queensland,  Church  of,  532 

Question  of  Enrolling    Delegates    from  Exscinded 

Synods,  182  ;  of  Controversy  in  Ancient  Church 

and  Reformation,   365 
Quorum  Question,  190 


INDEX. 


543 


Rationalistic  Higher  Criticism,  379 

Rationalists  and  Miracles,  Prophecy  and  Inspira- 
tion, 385 

Reading  a  Chapter,  Andrews  on,  70 

Record  Books  Required,  71 

Reducing  the  Size  of  the  General  Assembly,  245 

Red  River  Church,  45. 

Reflex  Influence  of  Skepticsm  and  Christianity,  145 

Reformation,  512  ;  in  France,  41;  Principles,  512 

Reformed  Church  in  America,  524  ;  in  the  U.  S., 
526  ;  Churches,  Federal  Union  of,  527;  Presby- 
terian Church  in  N.  A.,  General  Synod    of,  527 

Relief  for  Soldiers  and  their  Families,  218  ;  F'und 
— its  Beginnings,  79 

Religious  Newspapers,  First  Published,  345 

Representation  in  the  General  Assembly  and  its 
Basis,  245 

Republicanism  at  Geneva,  Calvin  and  Knox,  132 

Resolutions  at  Reunion  on  Conciliation,  172 

Restoration    and    Charles  II.,   52 

Reunion,  218  ;  and  Peoria  Assembly,  219  ;  Com- 
mittee as  Last  Constituted  Help  by  Social 
Meetings  and  Interchange  of  Views,  226; 
Conventions  very  Helpful,  221  ;  First  Joint 
Committee  on,  Both  Chairmen  Die  before 
Work  Began,  219;  First  Report  Agreed  on, 
First  Basis  of  Reunion,  Education  by  Dis- 
cussion, 220  ;  Mass  Meeting  and  Speeches,  230  ; 
Memorial   Fund,  232 

Reunited  Synod  and  Statistics — Mission  Fields 
and  Mission  Work,  112 

Revision,  367;  Committee,  371;  Report,  373;  Over- 
tures, 369  ;  Analzyed,  369  ;  Parties,  374;  Final  Re- 
port, 376  ;  Approved  by  Assembly  and  sent 
down,  376;  Good  Results,  376;  Cumberland 
Church,  470 

Revival  in  Western  Pennslyvania,  149  ;  of  1800 
and  its  Influence  on  Society — the  Assem- 
blys.  Thankfulness,  151  ;  Origin  of,  455  ;  of 
1841  and  the  New  Side,  110 

Revivals  almost  Constant,  167  ;  and  Missions,  151  ; 
Calls  for  more  Missionaries,  169  :  Help  the 
Churches,  95;  in  Colleges,  1.71  ;  "New  Meas- 
ures," Dr.  Finney,  176 

Rice,  Dr.  J.  H.,  166 ;  Overture  on  Missions,  287; 
Father  David,  147,  457 

Roberts,  Dr.  W.  H.,  Secretary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Alliance,  358 

"  Rides  of  Order"  in  First  Assembly,  138 

Rump  Parliament,  51 

Sabbath  Committee,  358 

Sabbath  School  Statistics,  Work  and  the  Board 
of  Publication,  319 

Sanders,  Dr.  D.  J.,  President  of  Biddle  Uni- 
versity, 283 

San  Domingo,  59 

San  Francisco  Theological  Seminary,  281 

Sanhedrim,  26 

Scotch  Assemblies  Suppressed,  54 ;  Collections 
Sent  Over  in  Goods,  80 ;  Commissioners  to 
Western  Association,  58  ;  Superintendent  and 
Presbyteries,  54 

Scotland,  Church  of,  519  ;  Free  Church  of,  520  ; 
and  Presbyterian  Assembly,  54 

Seal  of  Presbyterian  Church,' North,  363 

"  Security,  Act  of,"  55 

Seminary,  Theological,  First  at  Service,  Pa.,  446 

Sepoy    Rebellion   and    Massacre   of   Missionaries, 

Shiloh  Church,  455 

Shenandoah  Valley  and  Western  Pennsylvania, 
86 

Skeptics  of  Europe  and  Higher  Criticism,  380 

Slavery  and  Missions  to  th  Freedmen,  328  ;  and 
the  Detroit  Resolution,  209  :  Early  Actions — 
Paper   of  1818—  Northwest    Territory,    162;    in 


N.     S.     Assembly      1846     and      Onward,    208; 
Pushes  aside  Western  Mission  Work.   [91 

Smith,  Joseph,  and  His  Academy  in  the  Kit ■  hen 
at  Buffalo,  257 

(Soui hern)  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  478;  Early  Sealers,  480;  Separated 
from  the, North,  1861,  483;  Hodge's  Protest, 
484;  Augusta  Conference,  485  ;  Atlant; 
bly,  48(1 ;  Distinctive  Features.  470;  Statistics, 
493;  Boards.  494^;  Educational  Institutions, 
499;  Philanthropic  Institutions,  505;  Periodi- 
cals, 506  ;  Notable  Men,  508 

Southern    Synods  Withdraw  from  N.  S. 
bly  of  1857,  209 

Southern  University,  Tenn.,  265,  502 

Spain,  Reformed  Church  of,  518 

Spring,  Dr.  Gardner,  192 

Spring's  Resolutions  in  1861,  192,483 

Southern  Presbyterian  Quarterly,  507 

St.  Bartholomew,  Massacre  of,  43 

St.  Patrick  a  Presbyterian,  37 

"  Standards  Pure  and  Simple,"  222 

State  Church  and  Taxes,  E04;  and  Church  both 
needed  Reorganization,  125  ;  of  the  Country, 
Spring's  Resolutions,  192  ;  Synods,  240 

Statistics  at  the  First  Assembly,  138;  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Board— Freedmen's  Gifts.  330;  at  1800  and 
1815,  163;  in  1800,  143;  of  Growth,  169;  of 
Home  Missions  in  1817,  290  ;  of  N.  S.  Church, 
217;  of  O.  S.  Church,  189;  of  Sabbath  Si  hool 
work,  319;  Presbyterian  Churches,  534;  South- 
ern Church,  494 

Stuart,  Geo.  H.,  President,  National  Union  Con- 
vention, 221 

Christian  Commission,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Work; 

_  354 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  in  1810,299 

"  Subscription  "  Controversy  in  England,  522 

Subscription  to  the  Confession,  199  ;  to  the 
Standards,  objected    to,   89 

Sunday  School  Union  and  its  Publications,  317 

Surinam,  Reformed  Church,  529 

Switzerland,  Reformed  Churches  of,  513 

Syria,  530 

Syriac  Evangelical  Church,  530 

Systematic  Beneficence  and    Permanent  Commit- 

„  tee.  337 

Synagogues ,  26-30 

Synods  Delegated  Bodies,  240;  Dissolved  "sine" 
die"  and  General  Assembly  Appointed,  127; 
Enlarged  in  Boundariesand  Business,  210  ;  Place 
of  Meeting  Changed  on  Account  of  War,  121  ; 
Provided  for,  72 ;  Reconstructed  .tni\  Recon- 
structing the  Presbyteries,  239  ;  Small  during 
the  Revolution,  121  ;  Small  From  Scattered 
Pastorates,  124  ;  Suggested  in  Overtures,  72 ;  Un- 
able to  push  the  Work,  124  ;  Want  Theological 
Seminaries,  272 

Synodical  Control  of  Seminaries,  Auburn,  N.  V., 
Union,  Va.,  Hanover  and  New  Albany,  I  ml..  277; 
Missionaries  and  Itinerants,  215;  Representa- 
tion, 246  ;  Superintendents  of  the  Home  Mis- 
sions— Their  Duties,  294 

Tasmania,  Church  ol 

Temperance,  Anion  ol  '  >ld  Synod,  161  ;  and,  the 
Assemblies  Permanent  Committee  —  Women's 
Work  on  this  Line,  340 ;  Publications  ol  the 
Permanent  Committee,  141  ;  Sermons  and  Mi  as- 
ures  I  Irged,  161 

TennentS,  Father  and  Sons,  89-92  ;   and  \\ 
110 

Texas  Cumberland  Church,  469 

Theological  Seminaries:  Andover,  m   ;  Pi 

tablished  -Multiplied,    170;  Need    I  ol- 
1     a  Constituency,    .  r  .   Statistics,  285; 
Various  Relations  to   \    embly,  ;S6-393 


544 


INDEX. 


Theological    Education — Every     Plan        Tried  — 

Twice    Divides   the   Church,    270 ;     School    of 

Cumberland  Church,  473 
Thornton  Home  for  Aged  Ministers,  474 
Thornwell,  Dr.  J.  H.,  486 
Thomwell  Orphanage,  Clinton,  S.  C,  505 
Toronto  Council,  533 
Traveling  Expenses  of  Assembly,  247 
Triennial  Assemblies,  in   New  School,  200;  in  N. 

S.  Church  Effect  Injuries,  203 
Trinidad,  Presbytery  of,  529 
Trinity  University,  473 
"True  Blue,"  .Meaning  of,  360 
Trustees,  396 
Tyndale's  Translation,   Printed   in   Worms,  First 

Introduced  into  England,  39 

Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  264 
Union  Demanded   by   the   Great    Field,    155  ;  of 
Colonies  Dreaded  in  England,      7  ;  of  Colonies 
Helps   Union   of   Synods,    108 ;    of   Synods    in 
1768,  Statistics  and  Conditions,  ri2 
Unitarians  Appropriate  Harvard  College,  142 
United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  299 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of   North   America, 
425  ;     Antecedents,    426 ;      Communion,     432  ; 
Church  Work,   441  ;   Doctrinal   Position,    431  ; 
Education,   446  ;  Papers,   449 ;  Psalmody,  436  ; 
Secret  Societies,  439  ;    Slavery,  435  ;  Spirit  and 
Life,  438  ;  Statistics,  450  ;  The  Union,  429 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  521 
Uniting  the  Platforms,  225 

Unity  and  Personal  Confidence,  222  ;  of  Churches 
in  Evangelical  Movements,  352  ;  of   the  Syna- 
gogues, 27 
Union  among  Presbyterians,  Introduction,  9 
Union  Seminary,  N.  Y.,  280,  387  ;  Assembly  Veto, 

388  ;    Arbitration  Proposed,  391 
Union  Seminary,  Va.,   and   the   Synods     of   that 

Vicinity,  275 
Utica,  Geneva,   and   Genesee    Synods   Cut   Off, 


Van  Dyke,  Dr.  H.  J.,  371 

Victoria,  Church  of,  532 

Voluntary  Societies,  Objected   to,  174  ;  Societies, 

204,  211 
Voting    Divides     Covenanter    Church,    417  ;    on 

Prohibition   Amendments,    422  ;  on   East   End 

Platform,  424 

Waldenses,  38  ;  Protected  by  Cromwell,  62 

Waldensian  Church,  527 

Wales,  Calvinistic  Methodists,  523 

Walnut    St.    Church    Case,  Dissenting    Opinions, 

194 
War  of  1812,  163 


Washington  and  Jefferson  College,  172,  258, 
263 

Washington  and  Witherspoon,  130  ;  and  Presby 
terians,  480 

Weak  Brethren,  Relief  offered,  82 

"  Week  of  Prayer,"  198 

Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  and  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  177  ;  Report  of  Committee 
not  Adopted,  Missionary  Society  of  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburgh,  302  ;  Reserve  Synods  Cut  Off, 
179  ;  College,  264  :  Theological  Seminary,  275 

Westminster  Assembly,  50  ;  Confession, 
Churches,  535  ;  Standards,  55  ;  Westminster 
Standards  and  Witnessing  Churches,  and  the 
New  Side,  in  1841,202  ;  Standards  Accepted  ex- 
cept Fatality,  471;  College,  Fulton,  Mo., 
504 

Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa.,  Resolutions,  115 

Whitaker,  Dr.  Wm.,  of  Cambridge  University,  60 
Rev.  Alexander,  Apostle  of  Virginia,  60 

Whitfield  and  the  Tennents,  92,  no 

Whitfield's  Severity  on  his  Brethren,  92  ;  Descrip- 
tion of  the  Log  College,  257 

"  Widows'  Fund"  and  other  Relief  Schemes,  325 

Williams,  Dr.  Aaron,  on  "  Falling  Work,"  150 

Wilson,  Dr.  Joshua   L.,  186 

Rev.  John,  Aided  from  the    Fund,    1,   79 

Rev.   J.   P.,  and  Cumberland  Church,  403 

Witherspoon,  Dr.  John,  Described — President  of 
Princeton — Descended  from  John  Knox,  119; 
and  his  Work  in  Continental  Congress,  many 
Important  Committees  and  Addresses,  134  ;  his 
Burlesque  on  Theological  High  Flyers,  260 ; 
Preached  a  Political  Sermon — it. is  Published 
and  Dedicated  to  Hancock,  108  ;  Familiarity 
with  all  Questions  of  Church  and  State — 
Speeches  in  Congress — Influence  in  Congress, 
119;  Wife,  260;  Stands  by  Washington,  12;; 
Opens  the   First   General  Assembly,   137 

Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  National 
Temperance  Society,  etc.,  340 

Executive  Committee  of  the  Home  Board — 

Its  Work  and  Income,  296 

Foreign  Missionary   Society,    Cumberland, 

475  . 

Wooster  University,  Ohio.  265 
Wycliffe,    512  ;       England's     Luther — Translates 

the  Bible— His  Bones  Burned,  38 

Yale  College  and  Infidel  Nicknames  among  the 

Students,  140 
V.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Work,  354 
Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.  and  Presbyterian  Co-operation,  355 
Young  Women's     Christian    Association   and   its 

Field,  356 

ZwiNGLI,  ULRIC,  513 


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